Harold L. Goodwin

“ Past the orbit of Mercury, the sun side of the asteroid grew dangerously hot for men in space suits. Rip and the Planeteers stayed in the bitter cold of the dark side, which ceased to be entirely dark. Even the temperature rose somewhat. They were close enough to the sun so that the prominences, great flaming tongues of hydrogen that sped many thousands of miles into space, gave them light and enough heat to register on Rip's instruments. ”

“ Only men in space suits rode in the ungainly boxes.
He checked all blast tubes to make sure they were clear. There were small single tubes on each side of the craft. A clogged one could explode and blow the boat up.
Koa, he knew, had checked everything, but the final responsibility was his. In space, no officer or sergeant took anyone's word for anything that might mean lives. Each checked every detail personally.
Rip looked around and saw the Planeteers watching him. There was approval on the faces behind the clear helmets, and he knew they were satisfied with his thoroughness. ”

“ Rip turned quickly and looked through a helmet at the grinning face of Major Joe Barris.
Barris spoke as though to himself, but Rip turned red as his hair. "Funny how fast a man ages in space," the Planeteer major remarked. "Take Foster. A few weeks ago he was just a cadet, a raw recruit who had never met high vack. Now he's talking like the grandfather of all space. I don't know how the Special Order Squadrons ever got along before he became an officer." ”

“ There was no immediate danger. It would take many days to build up a dose of gamma that could hurt them. But gamma was not the only radiation. They were in space, fully exposed to equally dangerous cosmic radiation.
The Planeteers had gathered while he read the instruments. Now they stood watching him. They knew the significance of what he had found.
"I ought to be busted to recruit," he told them. "I knew this asteroid was thorium, and that thorium is radioactive. If I had used my head, I would have added nuclite shielding to the list of supplies the Scorpius provided. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Once each two hours it circled the earth completely, spinning along through space like a mighty wheel of steel and plastic.
Through a telescope from earth the platform seemed a lifeless, lonely disk, but within it, hundreds of spacemen and Planeteers went about their work. ”

“ The men of the Special Order Squadrons, searching for a handy nickname, had called themselves Planeteers, because most of their work was on the planets. As Major Joe Barris had told the officers of Rip's class, "You might say that the spacemen own space, but we Planeteers own everything solid that's found in it." ”

“ He told the Planeteers what he had been thinking, then asked, "Any ideas for a tube?"
"How about a tube from the snapper-boat?" Santos suggested.
Rip shook his head. "Not strong enough. They're designed to withstand the slow push of rocket fuel, not the fast rap of an explosion. When I say slow, I mean slow-burning when compared with explosive. Who has another idea?"
Kemp, the expert torchman, said, "Sir, I can burn you a tube into the asteroid." ”

“ Rip searched his memory for data on Venus. He couldn't recall any mention of fleedling. Venusians, if his memory was right, had a sort of blowgun as a main weapon. He told Koa so.
The sergeant-major nodded. "That's when they mean business, Lieutenant. Fleedling is more like us fighting with our fists. Sort of a sport. Great Cosmos! The way they dive at each other is something to see."
Rip grinned. "I didn't know I was going to fleedle those officers. It isn't the way I usually enter a cruiser." ”

“ Rip reminded them. "At the moment, our speed around the sun is just slightly more than ten miles a second. If we just shifted orbits and kept the same speed, it would take us months to reach Terra. But we'll use two bombs to kick the asteroid into the orbit, then fire one to increase speed. The estimate is that we'll push up to about forty miles a second."
Koa spoke up. "That's not bad when you think that Mercury is the fastest planet and it only makes about thirty miles a second."
"Right," Rip agreed. "And when we really have the sun's gravity pulling us, we'll increase speed. ”

“ O'Brine agreed. "Well, here's where we part. Is there anything you need?"
Rip made a mental check on supplies. He had more than enough. "The only thing we need is a long-range communicator, sir. If you're leaving, we'll have no way to contact the planet bases."
"I'll see that you get one." The Irishman thrust out his hand. "Stay out of high vack, Foster. Too bad you didn't join us instead of the Planeteers. I might have made a decent officer out of you."
Rip grinned. "That's a real compliment, sir. I might return it by saying I'd be glad to have you as a Planeteer corporal any time." ”

“ Rip took a look toward the enemy cruiser. The assault boat was no longer showing an exhaust. Instead, it was being dragged rapidly away from the Connie cruiser by the pull of the sun. At least they had hit it in time to prevent launching of the atomic guided missiles. Or, he thought, perhaps the enemy had never intended using them. The principal effect, besides killing the Planeteers, would have been to drive the asteroid into the sun at an even faster rate.
The enemy assault boat was no longer a menace. Its occupants would be lucky if they succeeded in saving their own lives. ”

“ The Connie commander grunted. He was afraid, Rip realized. The Connie suspected a trick, and he had no idea of what it might be.
[pg 232] Rip looked him over with interest. This was the man who had been willing to burn his own spacemen back at the asteroid belt.
Galliene saw Rip's black uniform and hurried to shake his hand. "So this is the young lieutenant who is responsible! Lieutenant, today the spacemen honor the Planeteers because of you. Most days we fight each other, but today we fight together, eh? I am glad to meet you!" ”

“ The thorium had never been exposed to oxygen. Here and there, pyramids of metal thrust up from the asteroid, sometimes singly, sometimes in clusters. They were metal crystal formations. He guessed that once, long ages ago, the asteroid had been a part of something much bigger, perhaps a planet. One theory said the asteroids were formed when a planet exploded. This asteroid might have been a pocket of pure thorium in the planet.
There would be plenty to do in a short while, but meanwhile he enjoyed the sensation of being on a tiny world in space with only a handful of Planeteers for company. ”

“ His voice was so loud Rip heard him faintly even through the bubble. He stepped out of the landing boat and faced the irate commander.
O'Brine ordered, "Get him out of that suit." Two spacemen jumped forward. One twisted Rip's bubble free and lifted it off. The heavy air of the ship hit him with physical force.
O'Brine grated, "You're under arrest, Foster, for [pg 157] firing on the Scorpius, for insubordination, and for conduct unbecoming an officer. Get out of that suit and get flaming. It's the spacepot for you." ”

“ MacFife had a broad grin on his face. As Rip started to speak, he held up his hand and pointed at a wall speaker.
The Connie commander came on the circuit. He screamed, "You planned that! You—you—" He subsided into his own language.
Galliene's voice spoke soothingly. "But my dear commander! How can I apologize enough? Believe me, the man responsible will be reward—I mean, the man responsible will be disciplined. You may rest assured of it. How unfortunate! I am overcome with shame. A terrible accident! Terrible."
MacFife picked up a microphone. "Same here, Connie. A terrible accident. ”

“ The asteroid would go around the earth in a series of ever-tightening ellipses, using Terra's gravity, plus rocket fuel, to slow it down to the right orbital speed.
When it reached the proper position, tubes of rocket fuel would change the course again, putting it into an orbit around the earth close to the space platform. It wasn't practical to take the thorium rock in for a landing. They would lose control and the asteroid would flame to earth like the greatest meteor ever to hit the planet. ”

“ Cruisers don't clean their tubes more'n once in ten accelerations. The commander is just thinking up dirty work for us to do, like I said."
"Never mind," Rip told him. "Let's find our squadroom and get settled, then draw some protective clothing and equipment. We'll clean his tubes for him. Our turn will come later."
He remembered the last thing Joe Barris had said, only a few hours before. 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. ”

“ They got off the track at Valve Two and stepped through into the rocket's interior. Two seats just ahead of the fins were vacant and they slid into them. Rip looked through the thick port beside him and saw the distinctive blue glow of a nuclear drive cruiser sliding sternward toward the platform.
"Wave your eye stalks at that job," Flip said admiringly. "Wonder what it's doing here?"
The space platform was a refueling depot where conventional chemical fuel rockets topped off their tanks before flaming for space. The newer nuclear drive cruisers had no need to stop. ”

“ The gunner threw a switch and a searchlight port opened in the boat's belly. Its beam searched downward, swept past, then steadied on two space-clad figures.
"It worked," Rip said tiredly. He closed his eyes to guard them against the brilliant glare, then waved his good arm. ”

“ The Scorpius had trouble finding the asteroid because it was just one of many sailing along through the belt. But now the asteroid was the only one traveling across the belt. It would make an outstanding blip on any radar 'scope. It wasn't possible that the Connie cruiser had missed the blip and its significance.
"The Connie may be looking us over," Rip added, "but I can tell you one thing for sure. He knows we've taken the asteroid." Only human hands could swerve a heavenly body from its orbit.
Koa looked wistfully at the atomic bomb which remained. ”

“ The plan would fail when the cruiser sent a landing party. They would certainly come in snapper-boats, and the deadly little fighting craft could blast rings around the landing boat. The snapper-boats had gotten their name because fast acceleration and quick changes of position could snap a man right out of his seat, if he forgot to buckle his harness tightly.
The solution would be to keep the landing boat close to the asteroid. At the first sign of a landing party, they would blast in and take to the cave, using the rocket launcher as a defense. ”

“ In a few moments the boat was hovering a foot above the asteroid. Dowst cut the exhausts and Rip stepped out onto the tiny planet.
The Planeteers knew what to do. Corporal Pederson produced hardened steel spikes with ring tops. [pg 080] Private Trudeau had a sledge. Driving the first spike would be the hardest, because the action of swinging the hammer would propel the Planeteer like a rocket exhaust. In space, the law that every action has an equal and opposite reaction had to be remembered every moment. ”

“ The corporal had come in unnoticed with Rip's reference books.
Rip had plotted orbits before, but never one for actual use. His palms were wet as he laid it out, using prepared tables. When he had finished he pointed to a spaceman. "That's it. Will you translate it into analogue figures for the computer, please?" He assigned to others the task of figuring out the effect Mercury, the sun, and earth would have on the orbit, using an assumed speed for the asteroid.
To the chief analyst he gave the job of putting all the data together in proper form for feeding to the electronic brain. ”

“ Corporal Santos exclaimed, "Well stonker me for a stupid space squid! Do they expect us to find any people on this asteroid?"
The object was a portable rocket launcher designed to fire light attack rockets. It was a standard item of fighting equipment for Planeteers.
"I recognize the shape of those cases over there, now," Koa said. "Ten racks of rockets for the launcher, one rack to a case."
Rip scratched his head. He was as puzzled as Santos. Why supply fighting equipment for a crew on an asteroid that couldn't possibly have any living thing on it? ”

“ Now, although few spacemen knew the history of the phrase, they were using it again, correctly.
Other space talk grew out of space itself, and not history. For instance, the worst thing that could happen to a man was to have his helmet broken. Let the transparent globe be shattered and the results were both quick and final. Hence the oft-heard threat, "I'll bust your bubble."
Speaking of bubbles ... Rip realized suddenly that he and his men would have to live in bubbles and space suits while on the asteroid. None of the minor planets were big enough to have an atmosphere or much gravity. ”

“ The law of the Federation said that no spaceship could fire on a Connie spaceship, or on Connie land bases, except with special permission of the Space Council. The theory was that small struggles between men, or even between small fighting craft like the snapper-boats, was not war. But firing on a spaceship was war, and the first such act could mean starting war throughout the Solar System.
It made a sort of sense to Rip when he thought about it. Little fights here and there were better than a full war among the planets.
Koa suddenly gripped his arm. "Sir! Look up!" ”