ting space sections. Astro was the first to spot the asteroid,
but for a moment he couldn't see the jet boat on the opposite side of
the small celestial body. Meanwhile, Strong, coming from the other
direction, saw the boat and relayed the position to Astro. In a few
moments the two space craft had regulated their speeds to that of Tom's
ship and were hastily donning space suits. A quick look inside had shown
them Tom's sleeping body. As Astro started to open the crystal hatch of
his ship to cross over to the other, Strong yelled over the audioceiver.

"Astro, wait!"

Astro looked across at the captain's ship questioningly.

"Tom isn't in a space suit. If we open the hatch it would kill him.
We've got to tow him back to the _Polaris_ and get his boat inside the
air lock before we can open the hatch!"

Without a word, Astro nodded, ducked inside his ship, and climbed out
again with a length of rope. Working quickly, he tied one end securely
to the bow of Tom's jet boat and made the other end fast to the stern of
his. Then returning to his cockpit, he sent the jet boat hurtling back
toward the _Polaris_.

But he was still faced with the problem of getting Tom's jet boat inside
the air lock. It was still under acceleration and there was no way to
get inside to stop its jet motors. Astro called to Strong and explained
the situation to him.

"Looks like the only thing we can do, sir, is keep going until it runs
out of fuel."

"That might take too long, Astro," replied Strong. "No telling how much
oxygen Tom has left."

"There's nothing else we can do, sir," replied Astro. "We can't brake
her to land inside the _Polaris_ and we can't open the hatch to turn off
the motor. We'll have to take a chance on Tom lasting until it runs out
of fuel!"

Inside the roaring craft, Tom suddenly opened his eyes. He began to
cough. There was a roaring in his ears. The stars overhead swam dizzily.
And then, as though through a billowing mist, he saw the jet boat ahead
of him and the rope tied to his ship. He realized he had been rescued.
He tried to signal them. He had to let them know he needed oxygen. He
tried to reach the communicator near the control panel but could not
lift his arm. He fell back to the deck gasping for air; his lungs
screaming for oxygen. Something, thought Tom through the haze that
fogged his brain, something to signal them. Then, with the last of his
strength, he raised up on one elbow and reached for the acc