The Planeteers and their prisoners would have to move fast, running to
stay out of direct sunlight. A moment or two in the sun wouldn’t hurt the
men, but the chemical fuels in the cutting tanks and rocket tubes would
explode in a matter of seconds.
At least the Connie cruiser couldn’t harm them now, Rip thought grimly. He
looked for the cruiser and failed to find it for several seconds. It had
moved. He finally saw its exhausts some distance away.
He forgot his own predicament in a grin. The Connie cruiser had moved, but
not because its commander had wanted to. It had been right in the path of
the nuclear blast, although some distance from it. The Connie had been
literally shoved away.
Then Rip forgot the cruiser. His suit ventilator was whining under the
terrific heat and his whole body was bathed in perspiration. The sun was
getting them. It was only a short time until the ventilator overloaded and
burned out. They had to reach the asteroid before then. The trouble was,
there was nothing further he could do about it. He had only air bottles
left, and their blast was so weak that the effect wouldn’t speed him up
much. Nevertheless, he called to Santos and directed him to use his
bottles. Then he did the same.