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Updated: May 7, 2025
Sweat poured from his forehead and the suit ventilator whined as it worked to pick up the extra moisture. Great Cosmos! That was close. Koa called, "All right, sir?" "Fine." Santos fired again, twice, in rapid succession. The Connie snapper-boats scattered as the proximity fuses produced flowers of fire among them. Two near misses, but they threw the enemy off course.
In the ruddy glow of the fighting rockets' tubes, he had seen that the cruiser's missile ports were yawning wide, ready to spew forth their deadly nuclear charges in an instant. The snapper-boats flashed toward the asteroid in a group, sheered off, and broke formation. They came back in pairs, streaking space with the sparks of their exhausts. "Into the cave," Koa shouted.
Where Connie snapper-boats carried five men, the Federation boats carried two. The Connies could fire in any direction. The Federation pilots aimed by pointing the snapper-boat itself, as fighter pilots of conventional aircraft had once aimed their guns. Rip watched the boats approach. He was ready to duck inside if they decided to look the asteroid over before landing.
He tried to sound calm, but the shakiness of triumph and excitement was in his voice. "All Planeteers. We have the Connie snapper-boats. Koa, bring your men here." He felt someone working on his arm and turned to see Corporal Pederson, his face one vast grin in the glare from Dowst's belt light. "Koa didn't need me," he said. Rip grinned back. "Nunez," he called, "how are things at the cave?"
"But let's suppose the Connie isn't as timid as I am," Rip went on. "He might be only a few miles out. The question is, would he wait to get closer before launching his snapper-boats?" The tall officer answered frankly, "I've never been in a space grab like this. I don't know the answer." "We'll soon know," Rip replied grimly. A thought had just struck him.
If any of the remaining Connie search teams saw the lights, they would think they were their own men's. Rip remembered the lay of the ground and Santos' description of the snapper-boats' position. He circled almost to the horizon, then told Dowst to cut his light. He cut his own.
"We will sweep the asteroid clean with our exhaust, but this time we will be more thorough. When we have finished, we will hammer you with guided missiles. Then we will send snapper-boats with rockets to hunt down any who remain. We intend to have that thorium. You had better surrender." Rip couldn't believe it. The cruiser commander had no hesitation in sacrificing his own men!
"What kind of craft is this, sir?" "Experimental," the space officer answered. "It has a number, but we call it the ball-bat because it's shaped like a ball and goes like a bat. We were about to take off for some test runs around the space platform when we got a hurry call to come here. The Aquila has two of these. If they prove out, they'll replace the snapper-boats.
The snapper-boats seemed miles away to Rip, but he plugged ahead until his belt light picked them up. He took a long look, then turned away, heartsick. The Connie’s exhaust had charred them into wreckage. "Now what?" he asked. "I don’t know, sir," Koa answered somberly. They went back to the cave, not hurrying because Rip no longer had the strength to hurry.
If only the radios in the snapper-boats were on a Federation frequency.... Hey! They could take one of the boats and intercept the cruiser! He was hurrying toward them before Koa understood what he was saying. He tried to make his legs go faster, but they were unsteady. He knew he was losing blood. He had lost plenty. He gritted his teeth and kept going.
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