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Updated: June 6, 2025
The Connies know how badly we want that asteroid, but they also know we don't want it enough to start a war. Got that?" "Got it," Rip stated wryly. "I got it good. Thanks for the warning, Terra base. Foster off." "Terra base off. Stay out of high vack." Fine advice, if it could be taken. Rip stared up at the brilliant stars, thinking fast.
He waited patiently for word from Santos that his helmet glow had been seen. Santos yelled, "Now!" Rip’s legs straightened with a mighty thrust. He flashed into space headfirst, at an angle that took him over the crater’s rim and 50 feet above the ground. He caught a glimpse of Santos’s helmet, glowing like a pink balloon, and of the three Connies facing it, one with gun upraised.
The Planeteers estimated where the enemy would land, and were there waiting with pointed handguns. The Connies had their hands over their heads, holding the propulsion tubes. They took one look at the gleaming Planeteer guns and their hands stayed upright.
Result, we get a Connie cruiser after the asteroid." "You hit it," Rip acknowledged. Corporal Santos shrugged. "If the Connies try to take the asteroid away, they'll have a real warm time. We have ten racks of rockets, twenty-four to a rack. That's a lot of snapper-boats we can pick off if they try to make a landing." The Planeteers stopped talking as the voice horn sounded. "Get it!
They also saw great numbers of what they called connies, which, from their description, must have been ground squirrels, or else some variety of animal now extinct. The country Drake named New Albion, partly from its white cliffs, which resembled those of his native land, and partly in belief that it would be easier to lay claim to the country if it bore one of the names applied to England.
We don’t have the outside casing with an exploder mechanism, so it has to be turned on electrically." Rip could see no way to use the atomic bomb against the Connies. It was too big for use against a landing party. Besides, it would put the Planeteers in danger. "Ever have trouble with the Connies before?" he asked Koa. "More’n once, sir.
"There’s no reason to drill three holes," Rip explained as they ran. "We’ll use one hole for all three charges. They don’t have to be fired all at once." "How do we fire them?" Koa asked. "Electrically. Who has the exploders and the hand dynamo?" "Dowst has the exploders. One of the Connies is carrying the dynamo." Speaking of the Connies ... Rip hadn’t seen the Consops cruiser recently.
Dowst merely said, "Yes, sir." The extra radiation might put both of them well over the safety limits long before earth was reached, and they both knew it. Rip didn’t hesitate. He reached the crater’s edge and walked right down into it. They were out of sight of the Connies now. Rip walked up the other side of the crater until his bubble was just below ground level.
He knew Koa had heard the message, too. Both groups put on more speed and reached the safety of darkness. "Get down," Rip ordered. They could still be seen, if silhouetted against the edge of sunlight. Starlight gave a little light, but it was too faint to help much. Rip's plan was that the Connies would supply the light needed for an attack.
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.
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