The Connie wrenched violently and threw them both upward. Rip felt the
star shape and twisted. If he could only deflate the Connie’s suit! But
the man was writhing from his grip, clawing for a weapon.
Rip stopped reaching for the deflation valve. He grabbed for his knife,
jerked it free, and thrust it against the middle of the Connie’s back.
Then he clanged his bubble against the man’s helmet for direct
communication and shouted, "Grab some space, or I’ll let vack into you!"
The Connie understood English. Most earthlings did. But even better was
his understanding of the pressure on his back. He stopped struggling and
his arms shot starward.
Rip breathed freely for the first time since he had leaped, and exultation
grew in him. He had his first man! His first hand-to-hand fight had ended
in victory so easy that he could hardly believe it.
He took time to look around him and saw that he was a good five feet above
the asteroid. Below him, a Connie belt light sent its shaft parallel with
the ground, and he knew the second man was down.
The question was, had either of them shouted before their communicators
were cut off?
"Dowst," he called urgently. "All okay?"
"No," Dowst said grimly. "We got the Connie, but he got Dominico. Cut his
leg with a space knife. I’m putting a patch on it. You okay?"
"Yes. When you can, pull me down."
"Right."
Dominico spoke up. "Don’t worry about me, sir. Nothing bad. I don’t lose
much air."
"Fine, Dominico. Glad it wasn’t worse."
But Rip knew it wasn’t good, either. A cut with a space knife let air out
of the suit and created at least a partial vacuum. If it also cut flesh,
the vacuum let the blood pressure force out blood and tissue to turn a
minor wound into an ugly one.
They would have to bring this spaceflap with the Connies to a quick end,
Rip thought. He had to get his men into air, somehow, to take a look at
their wounds. Bradshaw needed attention, and now so did Dominico.
Dowst reached up, took Rip’s ankle, and pulled him down. Rip held onto his
captive. Then the private bound the Connie’s hands, jerked his
communicator control completely off, and turned his air back on. Since Rip
had been unable to collapse the suit, the Connie was comfortable enough.
The reason for collapsing the suit was to deprive the enemy of air
instantly, so that he could be tied up while helpless from lack of oxygen.
There was enough air in the suit to last for a few minutes.
The Connie on the ground was neatly trussed. Rip’s prisoner joined him.
Dowst switched off his belt light. "Now what, sir?"
Dominico was standing patiently near by. He said nothing. Rip knew that no
more could be done for the Italian at present. "Go back to the cave,
Dominico," he ordered.
"I can stay with you, sir."
"No, Dominico. Thanks for the offer, but we’ll get along. Go back to the
cave."
"Yessir."
Rip was a little worried. He had heard nothing from Koa since that first
exchange. He told Dowst as much. Koa himself heard and answered.
"Lieutenant, we’re all right. Got two Connies, and I don’t think they had
a chance to yell. But I’m sorry about one, sir. Kemp had to swing at him
and busted his bubble."
"Fatal?"
"No, we got a patch on in time. But worse than Bradshaw."
"Tough." Rip couldn’t feel too sympathetic. After all, it was the Connie
cruiser’s fault Bradshaw had felt high vack. "All right. We have four.
That leaves nine."
Santos came on the circuit. "Sir, this is Santos. Only three men are at
the snapper-boats. If you can get here without being seen, maybe we could
knock them off. The rest wouldn’t be much good if we had their boats."
"You’re right, Santos," Rip replied instantly. Why hadn’t he seen that for
himself? He knew how he and Dowst could approach the craters without being
spotted, now that they had removed two teams of Connies. "We’re on our
way. Koa, make it if you can."
"Yes, sir."
Dominico was already making his way back to the cave. Rip and Dowst
started for the horizon at a good walk, not afraid now to use their
lights, at least for a few yards. If any of the remaining Connie search
teams saw the lights they would think it was two of their own men.
Rip remembered the lay of the ground, and Santos’s description of the
snapper-boats’ position. He circled almost to the horizon, then told Dowst
to cut his light. He cut his own. In a moment they topped the horizon, and
standing with only helmets visible from the snapper-boats, looked the
situation over.
The three Connies were standing between him and the boats. To the left of
the boats was the second crater. Rip studied the ground as best he could
in the Connie belt lights and decided on a plan of action. Calling to
Dowst, he circled again. Presently they were approaching the crater. The
Connies were about 25 yards from the crater’s opposite rim.
Rip said, "I hate to do this, Dowst, but I can’t see any way out. We have
to go into the crater."