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But on the dark side, Rip measured temperatures close to absolute zero. When the Scorpius returned he arranged with Commander O’Brine for the Planeteers to take turns going to the cruiser for showers and decent meals. The asteroid approached the orbit of Venus, but the bright planet was some distance away, at its greatest elongation to the east of the sun.
In addition, each became a full-fledged specialist in one field of science. Rip’s specialty was astrophysics. Sergeant-major Koa continued, "That business on the Icarus started the war, but both sides have been feeding it ever since. I have to admit that we Planeteers lord it over the spacemen like we were old man Cosmos himself.
If it didn't, asteroid and Planeteers would end up as subatomic particles in the sun's photosphere, because he had calculated his blast to drive the asteroid past the limit of safety. It was the only way he could be sure of putting them beyond danger from Connie landing boats or snapper-boats. The Connie would have only one chance to bring his cruiser down.
While Koa supervised the cutting of the block, Rip and the captain chatted. The Mercurian Planeteer base was in the twilight zone, but the Planeteers did all their work on the sun side, using special alloy suits to mine the precious nuclite that only the hot planet provided.
Rip kept his helmet against the Connie’s, but the man spoke in another language, which Rip identified as the main Consops tongue. When he had finished, Rip told his Planeteers to have weapons ready and to keep lights off. Time enough for light when the Connies were all disarmed. It didn’t take five minutes.
At the first sign of a landing party, they would take to the cave, using the rocket launcher as a defense. The supplies began to arrive. The Planeteers towed them two crates at a time in a steady line of hurrying men. Kemp's torch sent an incandescent knife three feet into the metal at each cut. He was rapidly slicing out a cave.
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?"
One minute to no-weight." Rip gave quick orders. "Get lines around the equipment and prepare to haul it. I'll get landing boats assigned, and we can load. Then prepare space packs. Lay out suits and bubbles. We want to be ready to go the moment we get the word." Lines were taken from a locker and secured to the equipment. As the Planeteers worked, the ship's spinning slowed and stopped.
Joe was right, he thought. To ourselves we’re supermen, but to the spacemen we’re just simps. Evidently O’Brine was the kind of space officer who ate Planeteers for breakfast. Rip thought of the way the commander had turned red with rage at that crack about his face, and resolved, "He may eat me for breakfast, but I’ll try to be a good, tough mouthful!" Commander O’Brine had not exaggerated.
"It means the ship has got to return in time to give us some nuclite shielding, or we’ll be the laughingstock of the Special Order Squadrons—the detachment that started a job the spacemen had to finish!" There was something else that Rip didn’t add, although he knew the Planeteers would realize it in a few minutes. Probably some of them already had thought of it.
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