of shadow.

Rip suspected the stylus was somewhere above the rock and probably
wouldn't return to the surface for some minutes. While he was wondering
what to do, there was a chorus of yells. A rocket sped between the
Planeteers and shot off into space.

"Our own rockets are after us," Trudeau gasped. There hadn't been time to
collect them all after Rip's unwilling attack on the Frenchman scattered
them. Now the sun was setting them off. Another flashed past, fortunately
over their heads. The sun's heat was causing them to fire unevenly. Rip
hoped they would all go off soon and get it over with.

"Three more to go," Koa called. "Watch out!"

Only two went, and they were far enough away to offer no danger.

Santos had been fishing around in the instrument case. He triumphantly
produced another stylus. "It was under the sextant," he explained. "I
thought there was another one around somewhere."

"If we get through this I'll propose you for ten more stripes," Rip vowed.
"We'll make you the highest ranking sergeant that ever made a private's
life miserable."

Working slowly but more safely, Rip figured that slightly more than two
and a half tubes would do the trick.

Now to fire them. That meant finding a thorium crystal properly placed and
big enough. There were plenty of crystals, so that was no problem. The
next step was for Kemp to cut holes with his torch, so that the thrust of
the rocket fuel would be counter to the direction in which the asteroid
was spinning.

Rip explained to all hands what had to be done. The burden would fall on
Kemp, who would need a helper. Rip took that job himself. He took one
oxygen tank from Kemp. Koa took the other, leaving the torchman with only
his torch.

Then Rip took a container of chemical fuel from Bradshaw. Working while
running, he lashed the two containers together with his safety line. Then
he improvised a rope sling so they could hang on his back. He wanted his
hands free.

Kemp, meanwhile, assembled his torch and put the proper cutting nozzle in
place. When he was ready, he moved to Rip's side and connected the hoses
of the torch to the tanks the lieutenant carried. Kemp had the torch
mechanism strapped to his own back. It was essentially a high pressure
pump that drew oxygen and fuel from the tanks and forced them through the
nozzle under terrific pressure.

When he had finished, he pressed the trigger that started the cutting
torch going. The fuel ignited abou