"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 2306, 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.

The decision made, he put his mind to the problem. There must be some way
out. There must be!

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 from the blast 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."

As an afterthought, he asked, "How many tubes do you have?"

"One after this, sir. I had three."

Rip also had one left. That was correct, because snapper-boats carried
three in each man's position.

"Save the one you have left," he ordered.

He didn't know yet what use they would be, but it was always a good idea
to have some kind of reserve.

The Connie cruiser was sliding up to the crippled assault boat. Rip took a
quick look, then shifted his hands, and angled toward the edge of shadow.
When he was within a few feet he reversed the direction of the tube to
keep from shooting out into sunlight. A second or two later the tube
burned out.

Santos was several yards away and slightly above him. Rip saw that the
Planeteer was all right and turned his attention to the cruiser once more.
It was close enough to the assault boat to haul it in with grappling
hooks. The hooks emerged and engaged the torn metal of the boat, then drew
it into the waiting port. The massive air door