anding patiently near by. He said nothing. Rip knew that no
more could be done for the Italian at present. "Go back to the cave,
Dominico," he ordered.

"I can stay with you, sir."

"No, Dominico. Thanks for the offer, but we'll get along. Go back to the
cave."

"Yessir."

Rip was a little worried. He had heard nothing from Koa since that first
exchange. He told Dowst as much. Koa himself heard and answered.

"Lieutenant, we're all right. Got two Connies, and I don't think they had
a chance to yell. But I'm sorry about one, sir. Kemp had to swing at him
and busted his bubble."

"Fatal?"

"No, we got a patch on in time. But worse than Bradshaw."

"Tough." Rip couldn't feel too sympathetic. After all, it was the Connie
cruiser's fault Bradshaw had felt high vack. "All right. We have four.
That leaves nine."

Santos came on the circuit. "Sir, this is Santos. Only three men are at
the snapper-boats. If you can get here without being seen, maybe we could
knock them off. The rest wouldn't be much good if we had their boats."

"You're right, Santos," Rip replied instantly. Why hadn't he seen that for
himself? He knew how he and Dowst could approach the craters without being
spotted, now that they had removed two teams of Connies. "We're on our
way. Koa, make it if you can."

"Yes, sir."

Dominico was already making his way back to the cave. Rip and Dowst
started for the horizon at a good walk, not afraid now to use their
lights, at least for a few yards. If any of the remaining Connie search
teams saw the lights they would think it was two of their own men.

Rip remembered the lay of the ground, and Santos's description of the
snapper-boats' position. He circled almost to the horizon, then told Dowst
to cut his light. He cut his own. In a moment they topped the horizon, and
standing with only helmets visible from the snapper-boats, looked the
situation over.

The three Connies were standing between him and the boats. To the left of
the boats was the second crater. Rip studied the ground as best he could
in the Connie belt lights and decided on a plan of action. Calling to
Dowst, he circled again. Presently they were approaching the crater. The
Connies were about 25 yards from the crater's opposite rim.

Rip said, "I hate to do this, Dowst, but I can't see any way out. We have
to go into the crater."

Dowst merely said, "Yes, sir."

The extra radiation might put both of them well over the safety limits
lo