Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: May 2, 2025
And so it happened that the spacemen of the SCN Scorpius turned their valves, threw their controls and disengaged their boron control rods, and the great cruiser flashed into space while the deputy commander and the safety officer were completely tangled with a very flustered and unhappy new Planeteer lieutenant. Sergeant Major Koa and his men had made it before the valve closed.
Commander O’Brine will never have time to get off a message, because he’ll be dead before he knows there is danger." The logic of it sent chill fear down Rip’s spine. The Connie could get the Scorpius with one nuclear blast and then clean up the asteroid at leisure. The Federation would suspect, but it would be unable to prove anything, because there would be no witnesses.
If they could get under cover, there might be a chance. At least it would take the Connies a while to find them. For a moment he thought of hurrying into the landing boat and sending out a call for help to the Scorpius, but he thought better of it. They weren't certain that Connie had spotted them. He would wait until there was no doubt. Meanwhile, they had to find cover.
"The Connie saw it," Rip said worriedly, "but didn't blast away. That means he's intending to ambush the Scorpius. Koa, if he does, that means war." The tall officer shook his head. "Sir, the Connie has guided missiles with atomic warheads, just as our ship has. If he can launch one from ambush and hit our ship, that's the end of it. The Scorpius will be nothing but space junk.
And so it happened that the spacemen of the SCN Scorpius turned their valves, threw their controls and disengaged their boron control rods, and the great cruiser flashed into space, while the deputy commander and the safety officer were completely tangled with a very flustered and unhappy new Planeteer lieutenant. Sergeant-major Koa and his men had made it before the valve closed.
For a moment he thought of hurrying into the landing boat and sending out a call for help to the Scorpius, but he thought better of it. They weren’t certain that Connie had spotted them. He would wait until there was no doubt. Meanwhile, they had to find cover. His searching eyes fell on the cutting torch.
What would his next step be? The snapper-boats hadn't drawn fire, even when a drone was sent over at low speed. The next thing would be to send a piloted boat over slowly enough to take a look. Rip hoped O'Brine would hurry. There was no longer any feeling in his arm below Koa's safety line. That meant the arm had frozen. He had to get medical attention from the Scorpius pretty soon.
Against his will, he was beginning to like the man. No doubt of it, the Scorpius was well named. And the sting in the scorpion's tail was O'Brine himself. The Gray World Rip rejoined his Planeteers in the supply room and motioned for them to gather around him. "I know why Terra base sent us the fighting equipment," he announced.
Then he took the landing boat to the Scorpius, talked the problem over with the ship’s medical department and arranged for his men to take injections that would keep them from coming down with radiation sickness. They left the asteroid belt far behind, and passed within ten thousand miles of Mars.
But we'll take plenty of them with us before we're finished." "That's the spirit," Rip told them. "I won't last much longer. When I get too weak, Koa will take over. Meanwhile, I want to get outside. Bring the rocket launcher outside, too. Who's the gunner? Santos? Stand by, then. We'll need you, in case the Connie decides to send a few snappers before it goes after the Scorpius."
Word Of The Day
Others Looking