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Then, as Rip was enjoying the comfort of air during his off-watch hour in the boat compartment, Koa beat an alarm on the door. Rip and the Planeteers got into suits and opened up. "It's Terra base calling on the communicator, sir," Koa reported. "Urgent message, they said, and they want to talk to you personally." Rip hurried to the cave. The communicator indicator light was glowing bright red.
For answer, O'Brine strode to the operating-room communicator. "Get it," he called. "The deputy commander will prepare landing boat one and issue new space suits and helmets for all Planeteers with damaged equipment. Put in two rolls of nuclite. Sergeant Major Koa will see that all Planeteers have an opportunity to clean up and eat. They will return to the asteroid in one hour."
The Planeteers rounded up the prisoners and secured them, while Rip took an anxious look at the communicator. It was about time he heard from Terra base. The light was glowing. For all he knew, it might have been glowing for many minutes. He plugged into the circuit. "This is Foster on the asteroid." "Terra base to Foster. Listen.
But the Planeteers wouldn’t get enough of a dose to do any harm at all. The alpha count was high, but so long as they didn’t breathe any of the dust it was not dangerous. The Scorpius had six tubes. Rip divided the Planeteers into two squads, one under his direction and one under Koa’s. Each tube took a couple of hours’ hard work.
Back at ground level, he turned up his communicator. "Koa, is everything ready at the boat?" "Ready, sir." The Planeteers had already carried away the torch and its fuel and oxygen supplies. The area was clear of pieces of thorium. Rip announced, "We’re setting the explosion for ten minutes."
Rip ordered a survey and found the best place on the dark side to make a new base. The Planeteers cut out a cave with the torch, lined it with nuclite, and moved in their supplies. It would be their permanent base to the end of the trip. The sun was very hot now. On the sunny side of the asteroid the temperature had soared far past the boiling point of water.
I’m one grateful Planeteer, believe me!" "Come on. We’ll hurry right across ship to the opposite valve. Lad, I’ve a son in the Planeteers and he’s just about your own age. He’s on Ganymede. He and the others will be proud of what ye’ve done." MacFife was pulling himself along rapidly by the convenient handholds. Rip followed, his breathing a little rapid in the heavier air of the ship.
The spike was used to anchor Trudeau while he drove another, at his longest reach. Then the second spike became his anchor, and so on, until enough spikes had been set to lace the boat down against any sudden shock. The boat piloted by the spaceman was tied to the one that would remain, and the Planeteers floated its supplies through a window.
If sunlight hits those fuel tanks or the tubes of rocket fuel, they’ll explode!" Koa replied tersely, "Got it. We’re moving." The Planeteers and their prisoners would have to move fast, running to stay out of direct sunlight. A moment or two in the sun wouldn’t hurt the men, but the chemical fuels in the cutting tanks and rocket tubes would explode in a matter of seconds.
It took only a few moments, with Planeteers forming a chain from inside the boat to a spot a little distance away. The crates weighed almost nothing, but still retained their mass. Once their inertia was overcome, they moved from one man to the next like ungainly balloons. "All clear, sir," Koa called. Rip stepped inside and made a quick inspection. The box was empty except for the spaceman pilot.
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