"We'll just let them get out and help push!"

"And if that doesn't work," snorted Astro, "we'll stick Manning outside
and let him talk about himself. That oughta give us enough gas to get us
away from this hunk of copper."

"I believe," said Alfie emphatically, "that you're joshing me, Manning."

"Now, whatever gave you that idea?" asked Roger in a hurt tone.

"This _is_ a serious situation, isn't it?" asked Alfie, looking at
Astro.

"It sure is, Alfie," said Astro soberly, "and I'm the first one to say
I'm a little scared!"

Alfie smiled. "I'm very glad you said that, Astro," he said, "because I
feel exactly the same way!" He turned and walked back to Major Connel.

"What was the idea of telling him that?" hissed Roger at Astro. "What
are you trying to do? Get the little guy space happy, or something?"

"Look at him!" said Astro. "I'm twice his size. He figures if a big guy
like me is scared, then he's got a right to be scared too!"

Roger grunted in appreciation of the way Astro had treated Alfie's
fears and turned back to the loading of the fuel.

Major Connel walked over and watched them transfer the last of the fuel
into the tanks.

"How much have you got there, Astro?" he asked.

"I'd say enough to sustain flight for about three hours, sir.
Considering we'll have such a big load."

"Ummmmh," mused Connel. "You know we're up against big odds, don't you?"

Roger and Astro nodded.

"If Tom doesn't come back soon, we'll be so far into the pull of the
sun, even a ship the size of the _Polaris_ wouldn't be able to break
out."

"How much time have we got, sir?" asked Roger.

"Not too much, Manning," said Connel. "Of course we can blast off in the
jet boat and get up a few hundred miles, in case Tom does come back.
Then he won't have to bring the _Polaris_ down here. But if time runs
out on us up there, we'll have to come back and take our chance on
Junior being blasted out of the sun's grip."

There was a pause while Astro and Roger considered this.

"That would mean," asked Roger, "that we'd be here when the reactor
units go off, wouldn't it, sir?"

"That's right, Manning," said Connel, admitting to the danger. "Even if
Junior were blasted out of the pull of the sun, we couldn't survive the
explosions."

"Couldn't we blast off in the jet boat and then land after the
explosions, sir?" asked Astro.

"Yes," admitted Connel, "we could do that. But the radioactivity would
be so powerful we coul