The corporal's reply was rueful. "Sir, that wasn't the one I aimed at.
The sun's pull is worse than I figured."
The damaged snapper-boat instantly blasted from its nose tubes,
decelerated, and went into reverse, flipping through space crabwise as it
tried to regain the safety of the cruiser. The two boats that had crashed
while trying to dodge were blasting in great spurts of flame, following
the example of their damaged companion.
"Seven left," Rip called, and another rocket flashed on its way. He
followed its trail as it curved away from the asteroid and into the
squadron. Its proximity fuse detonated in the exhaust of a Connie boat,
blowing the tube out of position. The boat yawed wildly, cut its stern
tubes, and blasted to a stop from the bow tube. Then it, too, started
backward toward the cruiser. Six left!
Flame blossomed a few yards from Rip. He was picked up bodily and flung
into space, whirling end over end. Koa's voice rang in his helmet.
"Watch it! They're firing back!"
Rip tugged frantically at an air bottle in his belt. He pulled it out and
used it to whirl him upright again; then its air blast drove him back to
the surface of the asteroid. Sweat poured from his forehead, and the suit
ventilator whined as it picked up the extra moisture. Great Cosmos! That
was close!
Santos fired again, twice, in rapid succession. The Connie snapper-boats
scattered as the proximity fuses produced flowers of fire among them. Two
near misses, but they threw the enemy off course. Rip watched tensely as
the boats fought to regain their course. He knew asteroid, cruiser, and
boats were speeding toward the sun at close to fifty miles a second,
and the drag was getting terrific. The Connies knew it, too.
There was an exultant yell from the Planeteers as two of the boats gave
up and turned back, using full power to regain the safety of the mother
ship. Four left!
Santos scored a direct hit on the nose of the nearest one, but
its momentum drove it to within a few yards of the asteroid. Five
space-suited figures erupted from it, holding hand propulsion units,
tubes of rocket fuel used for hand combat in empty space.
The Connies lit their propulsion tubes and drove feet first for the
asteroid. The Planeteers estimated where the enemy would land, and
they were there waiting, with aimed handguns. The Connies had their hands
over their heads, holding the propulsion tubes. They took one look at the
gleaming Planeteer guns, and their hands stayed upright.
The Planeteers lashed the Connies' hands behind them with their own
safety lines and, at Rip's orders, dumped all but one of them into the
crater where Kemp was just finishing his cutting.
Three snapper-boats remained. Rip watched, holding tightly to the arm of
the Connie he had kept at his side. The man wore the insignia of an
officer.
The remaining snapper-boats were going to make it. Santos threw rockets
among them and scored hits, but the boats kept coming. The Connies were
too far away from the cruiser to return, and they knew it. Getting to the
asteroid was their only chance.
Rip called, "Santos! Cease fire. Set the launcher for ground level. Let
them land, but don't fire until I give the word."
He put his helmet against his prisoner's for direct communication. "You
speak English?"