"That’s it. If we could capture them, the Connie cruiser would be
helpless. We could use the snapper-boat radios to warn the ship that any
false move would mean harm to their men."
Koa shook his head doubtfully. "I’m not sure the Connies worry about their
men, but it’s worth the try. We can capture some of them if they split up
to search the asteroid. But we won’t be able to sneak up on them all."
"We have an advantage," Rip reminded them. "We’ve been on the asteroid
longer. We know our way around, and we’re used to space-walking. They’ve
just come out of deceleration and they won’t have their space-legs yet."
Santos reported. "They’re breaking up into groups of two. Three are
guarding the snapper-boats. One is the man with the chattergun."
"Are their belt lights on?"
"Yes."
"Then keep out of the beams. Don’t let them walk into you. Keep low, and
keep moving. Stay over on the dark side."
"We’d better get to the dark side ourselves," Koa warned.
He was right, Rip knew. The Connies didn’t have far to search before
reaching the sun side. "Koa, you take Trudeau and Kemp. I’ll take Dowst
and Dominico. Nunez and Bradshaw stay here to guard the cave. If they
arrive in twos, let them get into the cave before you jump them. Bradshaw,
how do you feel?"
"I’m all right, Lieutenant."
Rip admired the Planeteer’s nerve. He knew Bradshaw was in pain, because
bleeding into high vacuum was always painful. The crack in the
English-man’s helmet had let most of the air out, and his own blood
pressure had done the rest. He would carry the marks for days. A few more
moments and all air and all heat would have been gone, with fatal results.
Fortunately, bubbles didn’t shatter easily when cracked. To destroy them
took a good blow that knocked out a piece.
"All right. Let’s travel. Koa, go right. I’ll go the other way and we’ll
work around the asteroid until we meet."
Rip led the way, gliding as rapidly as he could toward the edge of
darkness. He called, "Santos. Any coming in the direction of the cave?"
"Two pair. About fifty yards apart. They will be out of my sight in a few
seconds."
Which meant they would be within sight of Rip and the others. He knew Koa
had heard the message, too. Both groups put on more speed, and reached the
safety of darkness. "Get down," Rip ordered. They could still be seen, if
silhouetted against the edges of sunlight.
Starlight gave a little light, but it was too faint to see much. Rip’s
plan was that the Connies would supply the light needed for an attack.
In a few seconds, as Santos had predicted, belt light beams cut sharp
paths through the darkness. Rip sized up the possibilities. There were two
teams of two men each, and they were getting farther apart with each step.
One team was coming almost directly toward them. The other team was
slanting away from them and would soon be out of sight behind the thorium
crystals in which the cave was located. Fortunately, the Connies were
going away from the cave.
A Connie from the near-by team swung his beam back and forth, and it cut
space over their heads. Rip saw a few low pyramids of thorium a few rods
away. He directed swiftly, "Dowst, take my boots. Dominico, take Dowst’s
boots."
He lay face down on the metal ground until he felt hands grip his boots,
then he asked, "All set?" Two voices answered. "Ready."
Rip put his gloves on the ground and pulled himself forward and slightly
upward. Since there was very little gravity, the action both lifted and
pulled him. He slid parallel to the surface and a foot above it, heading
for the crystals. Once or twice he reached down and gave another push. It
was like swimming, except that only the tips of his gloves touched the
ground, and there was no resistance of any kind. He felt Dowst’s grip on
his boots, but he couldn’t feel the weight of his men.
He reached the first crystal and directed, "Get behind these rocks and
stay down. Feel your way. Use me for a guide. I’ll hold on until you’re
under cover." He gripped a crystal. "Come on."
Dominico pulled himself along Dowst’s prone form, and then along Rip’s.
When Dominico had reached the shelter of the crystals, Dowst crawled along
with Rip’s body for his guide, passed over him, and reached cover. Rip
followed.
The belt lights of the two Connies were almost abreast of them. Far to
their left, Rip saw another pair of lights. That was a pair he hadn’t seen
before.
"We’ll wait until they pass," he told his men. "Then we’ll get up and rush
them from behind. They can’t hear us coming. Dowst, you take the near one.
I’ll take the far one. Dominico, you help as needed, but concentrate on
cutting off their equipment. The first thing we must do is cut their
communicators. Otherwise they’ll warn the rest. Then turn off their air
supplies and collapse their suits."
One thing was in their favor. The space suits worn by the Connies were
almost the same as theirs. The controls were of the same kind. The only
way to know a Connie was by his bubble, which was a little more tubular
than the round bubbles of the Federation.
Rip suddenly realized that he wasn’t nervous anymore. He grinned, licking
his lips. After all, this was what he had been trained for.
The Connies came abreast and passed. "Let’s go," Rip said, and as he rose
he heard Koa’s voice.
The sergeant-major said, "Kemp, kneel on their right side. Trudeau and I
will hit them from the left and tumble them over you. Get their
communicators first."
Koa had methods of his own, apparently, and they sounded good.
Rip started slowly. He wanted to get directly behind the Connies. He
stayed down low until he was sure they couldn’t see him, unless they
turned.
Dowst and Dominico were right with him. "Come on," he said, and started
gliding after the helmeted figures. He kept his eyes on the one he had
selected, and he called on all the myriad stars of space to give him luck.
If the men turned, his plan for quick victory would fail.
He sensed his Planeteers beside him as the figures loomed ahead. He gave a
final spring that sent him through space with knees bent and outthrust,
his hands reaching.
His knees connected solidly with the Connie’s thighs and his hands groped
around the bulky space suit. He felt a rheostat control and twisted
savagely, then groped for the distinctive star-shaped button of the air
supply.
[Illustration: Rip Used a Flying Tackle on the Connie]