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Updated: June 6, 2025
He had sent the snapper-boats to try and draw fire in an attempt to find out more surely whether Planeteers or Connies had the thorium rock. "The Scorpius doesn’t know what’s going on," Rip told his Planeteers. "O’Brine didn’t know the cruiser was waiting to ambush him, so the rocket we fired made him think the Connies had taken us over." He put himself in O’Brine’s place.
They would claim sanctuary in the Federation. Rip shook hands solemnly with the grinning Scotchman. It would be a long time before Consops tried space piracy again. "We’ll be back at our family fight again tomorrow," MacFife said, "but today we celebrate together. Ah, lad, this is pure joy to me. I’ve had a score to settle with yon Connies for years. Now I’ve done it."
"Let’s go," Rip said, and as he rose he heard Koa’s voice. The sergeant-major said, "Kemp, kneel on their right side. Trudeau and I will hit them from the left and tumble them over you. Get their communicators first." Koa had methods of his own, apparently, and they sounded good. Rip started slowly. He wanted to get directly behind the Connies.
"Are their belt lights on?" "Yes." "Then keep out of the beams. Don't let them walk into you. Keep low, and keep moving. Stay on the dark side." "We'd better get to the dark side ourselves," Koa warned. He was right, Rip knew. The Connies didn't have far to search before reaching the sun side. "Koa, you take Trudeau and Kemp. I'll take Dowst and Dominico.
It was too big for use against a landing party. Besides, it would put the Planeteers themselves in danger. "Ever have trouble with the Connies before?" he asked Koa. "More'n once, sir. Sometimes it seems like I'll never get a job where I don't have to fight Connies." Rip was trained in science and Planeteer techniques, and he didn't pretend to know the ins and outs of interplanetary politics.
"Let's go," Rip said, and as he rose he heard Koa's voice. The sergeant major said, "Kemp, kneel on their right side. Trudeau and I will hit them from the left and tumble them over you. Get their communicators first." Koa had his own methods and they sounded good. Rip started slowly. He wanted to get directly behind the Connies.
Rip remembered the lay of the ground, and Santos’s description of the snapper-boats’ position. He circled almost to the horizon, then told Dowst to cut his light. He cut his own. In a moment they topped the horizon, and standing with only helmets visible from the snapper-boats, looked the situation over. The three Connies were standing between him and the boats.
He knew asteroid, cruiser, and boats were speeding toward the sun at close to fifty miles a second, and the drag was getting terrific. The Connies knew it, too. There was an exultant yell from the Planeteers as two of the boats gave up and turned back, using full power to regain the safety of the mother ship. Four left!
The landing boats, loaded with Planeteers and Connies, lifted from the asteroid to the cruiser. They slid smoothly into the air locks and settled. The massive lock doors slid closed and lights flickered on. Rip waited, trying to keep consciousness from slipping away. The lock gauges registered normal air, and the inner valves slid open.
The space suits worn by the Connies were almost the same as theirs. The controls were of the same kind. The only way to know a Connie was by his bubble, which was a little more tubular than the round bubbles of the Federation. Rip suddenly realized that he wasn’t nervous anymore. He grinned, licking his lips. After all, this was what he had been trained for. The Connies came abreast and passed.
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