* * * * *
The Prowler swept down the street, hoofs clattering like hammer blows.
Ahead of them the inner lock swung open. As the Prowler bulleted into
the entrance tunnel, the outer lock swung out and for a few wild
seconds air screamed and howled, rushing from the city into the vacuum
of space.
In frantic haste, Meek and Stiffy worked with their helmets, getting
them clamped down. Then they were out in the open, the gleaming city
behind them.
Less than half a mile away loomed a massive boulder towering a hundred
feet or more above the level of the canyon floor. The Prowler made a
beeline for it.
"Oliver," yelled Stiffy, "that thing wasn't there before. Look, it
almost blocks the canyon!"
The boulder was black but it crawled with a greenish glow, a faint
network of somber fire.
The breath caught in Meek's throat.
"Stiffy," he whispered.
Behind him, Stiffy almost sobbed in excitement. "Yeah, I know. It's a
meteor. And it's lousy with radium."
"It just fell," said Meek, voice unsteady. "That's what shook up the
place. Wonder is it didn't crack the dome wide open."
"We better jump for it," urged Stiffy, "if we don't want to get plumb
burned. Can't go near that thing without lead sheathing."
Meek flung himself sidewise, throwing up his arms to shield his helmet,
struck on his shoulders and rolled. Slowly, benumbed from the fall, he
crept out of the shadow of a high rock wall into the starlight.
Stiffy was sitting on the ground, rubbing his shins.
"Barked them up some," he admitted.
Up the valley the Prowler was arching its back and rubbing against the
green-glowing boulder.
"Just like a dad-blamed cat that has found some catnip," said Stiffy.
"Must sort of like that radium."
He rose slowly, dusted off his suit.
"Well," he suggested, "let's you and me go into action."
"Action?"
"Sure. Let's go back and file us a claim on that meteor. Don't need to
worry about anybody else jumping it, cause every dad-blamed one of them
is scared speechless of the Prowler. They won't go near the meteor long
as he's around."
Meek stared at the meteor speculatively. "That's worth a lot of money,
isn't it, Stiffy? Filled with radium like that."
"Bet your boots," said Stiffy cheerfully. "We go fifty-fifty on her.
Split equal ways. We're pardners."
"Tell you what you do," Meek said slowly. "You take it all. Just take
out enough to fix up the damage back there and call that my share."