The Filipino corporal asked, still in a calm voice, "How long before we’re
dragged into the sun, sir?"
Rip stared. Santos had used the same tone he might have used in asking for
a piece of Venusian _chru_. An officer couldn’t be less calm, so Rip
replied in a voice he hoped was casual, "I wouldn’t worry, Santos. We
won’t know it. The heat will get through our suits long before then."
In fact, the heat should be overloading their ventilating systems right
now. In a few minutes the cooling elements would break down and that would
be the end. He listened for the accelerated whine as the ventilating
system struggled under the increased heat load, and heard nothing.
Funny. Had it overloaded and given out already? No, that was impossible.
He would be feeling the heat on his body if that were the case.
He looked for an explanation and realized for the first time that they
weren’t in the sunlight at all. They were in darkness. His searching
glance told him they were in the cone of shadow stretching out from behind
the asteroid. The thorium rock was between them and the sun!
His lips moved soundlessly. Major Joe Barris had been right! _In a jam,
trust your hunch._ He had acted instinctively, not even thinking what he
was doing as he used the last full power of the stern tubes to throw them
into the shadow cone.
And he knew in the same moment that it could save their lives. The sun’s
pull would only accelerate their fall toward the asteroid. He said
exultantly, "We’re staying out of high vack, Santos. Light off a
propulsion tube. Let’s get back to the asteroid."
He pulled a tube from his belt, held it above his head, and thumbed the
striker mechanism. The tube flared, pushing downward on his hand. He held
steady and plummeted feet first toward the rock.
Santos was only a few seconds behind him. Rip saw the corporal’s tube
flare and knew that everything was all right, at least for the moment,
even though the asteroid was still a long way down.
He looked upward at the Connie cruiser and saw that it was moving. Its
exhaust increased in length and deepened slightly in color as Rip watched,
his forehead creased in a frown. What was the Connie up to?
Then he saw side jets flare out from the projecting control tubes and knew
the ship was maneuvering. Rip realized suddenly that the cruiser was going
to pick up the crippled assault boat.
He hadn’t expected such a humane move after his first meeting with the
Connie cruiser when the commander had been willing to sacrifice his own
men. This time, however, there was a difference, he saw. The commander
would lose nothing by picking up the assault boat, and he would save a few
men. Rip supposed that manpower meant something, even to Consops.
His propulsion tube reached brennschluss, and for a few moments he
watched, checking his speed and direction. Then, before he lit off another
tube, he checked his chronometer. The illuminated dial registered 2301.
They had just four minutes to get to the asteroid!
He spoke swiftly. "Waste no time in lighting off, Santos. That nuclear
charge goes in four minutes!"