The corporal asked, still in a calm voice, "How long will it be 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 systems struggled under the increased heat load but 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. Maj. Joe Barris had been right. _In a jam,
trust your hunch._ He had acted instinctively, not even thinking 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 vac, 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.
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
23:01. 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!"
Rip pulled a tube from his belt, held it overhead, and triggered it. His
flight through space speeded up, but he wasn't at all sure they would
make it. He turned up his helmet communicator to full power and called,
"Koa, can you hear me?"
The sergeant major's reply was faint in his helmet. "I hear you weakly.
Do you hear me?"
"Same way," Rip replied. "Get this, Koa. Don't fail to explode that
charge at twenty-three-oh-five. Can you see us?"
The reply was very slightly stronger. "I will explode the charge as
ordered, Lieutenant. We can see a pair of rocket exhausts, but no boats.
Is that you?"
"Yes. We're coming in on propulsion tubes."
Koa waited for a long moment, then asked, "Sir, what if you're not with
us by twenty-three-oh-five?"
"You know the answer," Rip retorted crisply.
Of course Koa knew. The nuclear blast would send Rip and Santos spinning
into outer space, perhaps crippled, burned, or completely irradiated.
But the lives of two men couldn't delay the blast that would save the
lives of eight others, not counting prisoners.
Rip estimated his speed and course and the distance to the asteroid. He
was increasingly sure that they wouldn't make it, and the knowledge was
like the cold of space in his stomach. It would be close but not close
enough. A minute would make all the difference.
For a few heartbeats he almost called Koa and told him to wait that extra
minute, to explode the nuclear charge at 23:06, at the very last second.
But even Planeteer chronometers could be off by a few seconds, and he
couldn't risk it. His men had to be given some leeway.
He surveyed the asteroid. The nuclear charge was on his left side, pretty
close to the sun line. At least he and Santos could angle to the right,
to get as far away as possible.
The edge of the asteroid's shadow was barely visible. That it was visible
at all was due to the minute particles of matter and gas that surrounded
the sun, even millions of miles out into space. He reduced helmet power
and told Santos, "Angle to the right. Get as close to the edge of shadow
as you can without being cooked."