Tom folded the papers and stuck them thoughtfully into his pocket.
They met Johnny Coombs in the Registry offices upstairs; Tom patted his
pocket happily. "We're cleared in forty-five minutes," he said.
Johnny grinned. "Then we're all set." They headed up the ramp, reached
ground level, and started out toward the launching racks.
At the far end of the field a powerful Class I Ranger, one of the
Jupiter Equilateral scout fleet, was settling down into its slot in a
perfect landing maneuver. The triangle-and-J-insignia gleamed brightly
on her dark hull. She was a rich, luxurious-looking ship. Many miners on
Mars could remember when Jupiter Equilateral had been nothing more than
a tiny mining company working claims in the remote "equilateral" cluster
of asteroids far out in Jupiter's orbit. Gradually the company had grown
and flourished, accumulating wealth and power as it grew, leaving behind
it a thousand half-confirmed stories of cheating, piracy, murder and
theft. Other small mining outfits had fallen by the wayside until now
over two-thirds of all asteroid mining claims were held by Jupiter
Equilateral, and the small independent miners were forced more and more
to take what was left.
They reached the gate to the Dutchman's launching slot and entered.
Inside the ship Tom and Johnny strapped down while Greg made his final
check-down on the engines, gyros and wiring. The cabin was a tiny vault,
with none of the spacious "living room" of the orbit-ships. Tom leaned
back in the accelleration cot, and listened to the count-down signals
that came at one minute intervals now. In the earphones he could hear
the sporadic chatter between Greg and the control tower. No hint that
this was anything but a routine blastoff....
But there was trouble ahead, Tom was certain of that. Everybody on Mars
was aware that Roger Hunter's sons were heading out to the Belt to pick
up where he had left off. Greg had secured a leave of absence from
Project Star-Jump ... unhappily granted, even though his part in their
program had already been disrupted. Even they had heard the rumors that
were adrift....
And if there was trouble now, they were on their own. The Asteroid Belt
was a wilderness, untracked and unexplored, and except for an almost
insignificant fraction, completely unknown. If there was trouble out
there, there would be no one to help.
Somewhere below the engines roared, and Tom felt the weight on his
chest, sudden and breath-taking.
They were on their way.