"What, Lieutenant?" The chief analyst pulled a notebook from his pocket.
"I’ll need all possible data on the asteroid’s speed, orbit, and physical
measurements. I have to figure a new orbit and what it will take to blast
the mass into it."
"We’ll get those. The orbit will not be exact, of course. We have only two
reference points. But I think we’ll come pretty close."
O’Brine nodded. "Do what you can, Chief. And when Foster gets down to
doing his calculations, have your men run them through the electronic
computer for him."
Rip thanked them both, then stood up. "Sir, I’m going back to my men. I
want to be sure everything is ready. If there’s a Connie cruiser headed
this way, we don’t want to lose any time."
"Good idea. I think we’ll dump you on the asteroid, Foster, and then blast
off. Not too far, of course. Just enough to lead the Connie away from you
if its screen picks us up."