Kemp had made astonishing progress. There was room for the crates, if stacked properly, and for the men, besides. Rip supervised the stacking and then the placement of the rocket launcher at the entrance.
"All hands inside the boat," he ordered. "Dowst, be ready to take off at a moment"s notice. You"ll have to buck this box around as never before."
He explained to the pilot his plan to dodge, keeping the asteroid between the boat and the cruiser.
"We"ll make it, sir," Dowst said.
"I"m not worried," Rip replied--and wished it were true. He looked up at the Connie again. It was getting larger. The cruiser was within a few miles of the asteroid.
As Rip watched, fire spurted from the cruiser, and it moved with gathering speed toward the asteroid"s horizon. He watched the exhaust trail, wondering why the Connie had blasted off.
"He has something up his sleeve," Koa muttered. "Wish we knew what."
"Let"s take no chances," Rip stated. "Come on."
The men were already in the boat. He and Koa joined them. They stood at a window, watching the Connie"s trail.
The trail dwindled. Koa said, "Something"s up!" Suddenly new fire shot from one side of the cruiser, and it spun. Balancing fire came from the other side, and for an instant the three exhausts formed a cross, with the darkness of the Connie"s hull in the center. Then they could see only the exhausts from the sides. The stern flame was out of sight. "He"s made a full turn to come back this way," Rip stated tensely. "Dowst, get ready."
The Connie was perhaps twenty miles away. It grew larger, and the side jets winked out. A few seconds later, fire spurted from the nose.
Rip figured rapidly. The cruiser had gone far enough away to make a turn.
It had straightened out, heading right for them. Now the nose tube was blasting, slowing the cruiser down.
He sighted, holding out one glove, and gauging the Connie"s distance above the horizon, and his heart speeded. The Connie was right on the horizon!
"Ram it!" Rip called. "Around the asteroid. Quick!"
Acceleration jammed him back against his men as Dowst blasted. No sooner had he recovered than acceleration in a different direction shoved him up to the ceiling so hard that his bubble rang. He clawed his way to the window as the Connie cruiser flashed by, bathing the asteroid in glowing flame.
There was a chorus of gasps from the men as they saw the thing Rip had realized a moment before. The Consops cruiser was playing it safe, using its rocket exhaust as a great blowtorch to burn the surface of the asteroid clean of any possible life!
The sheer inhumanity of the thing made Rip"s stomach tighten into a knot.
No asking for surrender, no taking of prisoners, not even a clean fight.
The Connie was doing its arguing with fire, knowing that the exhaust would char every man on the asteroid"s surface.
The Planeteers watched as the Connie sped away, blasted with side jets, and turned to come back. Dowst tensed over the controls, trying to antic.i.p.ate the next move. He delicately touched the firing levers, letting out just enough flame to maneuver. He slid the craft across the asteroid"s surface to the side away from the Connie, going slowly enough that they could watch the enemy"s every move.
"Here he comes," Rip snapped, and braced for acceleration. The landing craft shot to safety as the cruiser"s nose jet flamed. Dowst was just in time. Tiny sparks from the edge of the fiery column brushed past the boat.
Rip realized that the Connie couldn"t know the Federation men were in a boat, dodging. The cruiser would make about two more runs, just enough to allow for hitting every bit of the asteroid. Then it would a.s.sume that anything on it was finished and send a landing party.
"He"ll be back," he stated. "About twice more. Three at most." He suddenly remembered the landing boat"s radio. "Dowst, where is the radio connection?"
The pilot handed him a wire with a jack plug on the end of it. Rip plugged it into his belt. Now his voice would be heard on the _Scorpius_.
"Calling _Scorpius_! Calling _Scorpius_! Foster reporting. We are under attack. Repeat, we are under attack. Over to you."
The answer rang in his helmet. "_Scorpius_ to Foster. Hold "em, Planeteers. We"re on our way!"
"Here comes the Connie," Koa yelled.
Rip braced. The landing boat shot forward, then piled the Planeteers in a heap on the bottom as Dowst accelerated upward.
There was a sudden wrenching crash that sent the Planeteers in a jumbled ma.s.s into the front of the boat. It whirled crazily, then stopped.
Rip was not hurt. He shoved at someone whose bubble was in his stomach and cleared the way. "Turn on belt lights," he called. "Quick!"
Lights flared on. He searched quickly, swinging his light. The Planeteers were getting to their feet. His light focused on Private Bradshaw, and he gasped.
Bradshaw"s face was scarlet, and his skin was flecked with drops of blood. His eyes were closed and bulging horribly.
Rip jumped forward, but Koa was even faster. The Hawaiian jerked a repair strip from a belt pouch and slapped it on the crack in Bradshaw"s bubble.
Rip wasted no time, either. By the time Koa had the strip in place he had pulled the connection from his belt light. He ran the tips of the wires over the edges of the strip. The current sealed the patch in place instantly.
Koa grabbed the atmosphere control on Bradshaw"s belt and turned it. The suit puffed up. Rip watched the repair anxiously in the light from Koa"s belt. It held.
Rip reconnected his light as he asked swiftly, "Anyone else hurt? Answer by name."
There were quick replies. No one else had been injured.
"Run for the cave," Rip commanded. "Follow Koa. Santos and Pederson, drag Bradshaw."
The Englishman"s voice sounded bubbly. "I can make it."
"Good for you!" Rip exclaimed. "Call if you need help."
Koa was already out of the craft and leading the way. Rip went out through a window and saw the cause of the trouble. Dowst had been a hair too close to the asteroid. A particularly high crystal of thorium had snagged the landing craft.
Rip looked for the Connie and saw it make another turn. They had only a moment or two before the next run. "Show an exhaust!" he called. The Connie must have blasted the opposite side of the asteroid while they were hung up.
The cave was a quarter of the asteroid away. Rip stayed in the rear, watching for stragglers, but even Bradshaw was moving rapidly. Koa reached the cave well ahead of the rest, reached for a rack of rockets, and slapped it into the launcher.
Rip urged the men on. The Connie was squared off for another run.
They catapulted to safety as the cruiser flamed past, the exhaust splashing over the metal and sending sparks into the cave.
Rip looked out. That, if he had guessed right, was the last run. He watched the Connie"s stern jet cut off, saw the nose exhaust as the cruiser decelerated to a fast stop.
"Check your weapons," he ordered.
He pulled his pistol from his knee pocket and checked it carefully. There was a clip in the magazine. Other clips were in his pocket. The clips were loaded with high velocity sh.e.l.ls that exploded on contact. One slug could stop a Venusian _krel_, a mammoth beast that had been described as a cross between a sea lion and a cactus plant.
His knife was in place in the other knee pocket.
The Connie cruiser decelerated, went into reverse, and came to a full stop about a mile from the asteroid. The Planeteers saw fire in two places along the hull, marking the exhausts of two small craft.
"Snapper-boats," Koa said tonelessly. "Five men in each, if those are the regular Connie kind."