od health, thanks to
medical magic, were on their way back to the asteroid in a ball-bat boat.

The remaining time passed quickly. The sun receded. The Planeteers
corrected course. Rip sent in his recommendations for promotions and
looked over the last nuclear crater to see why the blast had started the
asteroid spinning.

The reason could only be guessed. The blast probably had opened a fault
in the crystal, allowing the explosion to escape partially in the wrong
direction.

Once the course was corrected, Rip calculated the position for the final
nuclear charge. When the asteroid reached the correct position relative
to Earth, the charge would not change its course but only slow its speed
somewhat. The asteroid would go around Earth in a series of ever
tightening ellipses, using Terra's gravity, plus rocket fuel, to slow
it down to orbital speed.

When it reached the proper position, tubes of rocket fuel would change
the course again, putting it into an orbit around Earth, close to the
space platform. It wasn't practical to take the thorium rock in for a
landing. They would lose control, and the asteroid would flame to Earth
like the greatest meteor ever to hit the planet.

Putting the asteroid into orbit around Earth was actually the most
delicate part of the whole trip, but Rip wasn't worried. He had the
facilities of Terra base within easy reach by communicator. He dictated
his data and let them do the mathematics on the giant electronic
computers.

He and his men rode the gray planet past the moon, so close they could
almost see the Planeteer lunar base, circled Terra in a series of
ellipses, and finally blasted the asteroid into its final orbit within
sight of the space platform.

Landing craft and snapper-boats swarmed to meet them, and within an hour
after their arrival the Planeteers were surrounded by spacemen, cadets
from the platform, and officers and men wearing Planeteer black.

A cadet approached Rip and looked at him with awe. "Sir, I don't know how
you ever did it!"

And Rip, his eyes on the great curve of Earth, answered casually,
"There's one thing every space chick has to learn if he's going to be a
Planeteer. There's always a way to do anything. To be a Planeteer, you
have to be able to figure out the way."

A new voice said, "Now, that's real wisdom!"

Rip turned quickly and looked through a helmet at the grinning face of
Maj. Joe Barris.

Barris spoke as though to himself, but Rip