l split
open like a pea pod for fully half its length and several items of its
cargo burst from their lashings, erupted from the wound.

Johnny was not inboard at the time, but floating, spacesuited alongside,
freeing a fouled lead to the radar bowl, swearing occasionally but
without any real passion at the stupidity of the unknown maintenance man
who failed to secure it properly. For some odd reason he had never quite
lost the thrill of his first trip "outside," and, donning pressure suit
with the speed of long practice, sneaked as many "inspections" as
possible, with or without due cause.

The second's fury that reduced the third stage of a $5,000,000 rocket to
junk was evident to him only as a brilliant blue-white flash, a
hammer-like shock through the antennae support that left his wrist and
forearm numb. Then a violent wrench as a long cylinder, expelled from
the split hull, caught the loop of his life line and dragged him in till
he clashed hard against it, the suddenly increased tension or a sharp
edge parting the line close to the anchored end. He clawed blindly for a
hold, found something he could not at that moment identify and hung on.

For a short time his vision seemed dulled and that part of his mind,
trained to the quick analysis of sudden situations groped but feebly
through a haze of shock to understand what had happened. Orienting
himself he found he was gripping a brace of the open-mounted motor on
one of the Waste Disposal Cylinders. About him he could see other odd
items of the cargo, some clustering fairly closely, others just
perceptibly drifting farther away. To one side, or "downwards" the Earth
rolling vastly, pole over pole, and with her own natural rotation
giving an odd illusion of slipping sideways from under him.

Only a sudden sun glint on the stubby swept-back wings showed him where
Able Jake was. Far away--too far, spinning slowly end over end. His
sideways expulsion from the ship then had been enough to give him and
his companion debris a divergent course.

Spacemen accept without question the fact of a ship or a station always
at hand with a safety man on watch at all times over those outside and a
"bug" within signaling distance constantly. They do not conceive of any
other state of affairs.

Now Johnny had to face the fact that he was in such a position--entirely
and utterly alone, except for the useless flotsam that came with him. He
might have flung himself into a mad chase