"When do we start?"
* * * * *
We were well out in the void, thundering toward Venus, when Twilken
pointed excitedly at a small speck on the telescreen.
"That's a ship, Tod!" he yelled. "That blasted Jovian's following us!"
I poured more power to my craft and slammed down frantically on the
meteor-shield stud--but it was too late. A great blast rocked the ship
and girders groaned their protest as they buckled under the terrific
pressure. A piece of flying metal smacked Twilken on the head and he
sank to the floor, out cold.
I ran to the navigation room locker and snatched out a couple of
spacesuits. I tugged and stuffed Twilken into one and barely made it
into my own when the air began to hiss out through the torn plates.
We were caught up in the vacuum and whisked out into the dark, cold
vastness, to float about like two corks in a millpond.
The Jovian ship, for such it proved to be, rushed in quickly and
fastened a grappling-beam on our helpless figures. In less than a
minute, we were inside the cruiser and facing the leering Jovian of the
_musk-parlor_ incident.
"I am mosd pleased ad dis oppordunidy do renew our acquaindance," he
smirked. "No doubd you know whad I am afder? I shall wasde no dime in
playing cad and mouse. Give me de formula and dere shall be no drouble."