their strides--they were less sure oL foot.

He decided it would be best to use a little less fuel rather than a little
more. If the asteroid failed to stop its spin completely, they could
always set off a small charge or two.

"Hold it," he ordered. "We'll use the small end of Dominico's tube and
save the big one."

The fuel was a solid mass, so cutting the tube in two sections caused no
difficulty. Rip pushed the exploder into the small section, seated it in
the hole, and hurried to cover. As he watched the fuel burn, he wondered
why the last nuclear charge had started the spin. He had made a mistake
somewhere. The earlier blasts had been set so they wouldn't cause a spin.
He made a mental note to look at the place where the charge had exploded
when things were more quiet.

The rocket fuel slowed the asteroid down to a point where it was barely
turning, and Rip was glad he had been cautious. The heavier charge would
have reversed it a little. He directed the placing of a very small charge
and was moving away from it so Koa could set it off when Santos suddenly
yelled, "Sir! The Connie is coming!"

Rip called, "Fire the charge, Koa," then looked up. The Consops cruiser
was moving slowly toward them. The canny Connie had been waiting for
something to happen on the asteroid, Rip guessed. When the spinning slowed
and then stopped, the Connie probably had decided that now was the time
for a final try.

"Where is the communicator?" Rip asked Koa.

"One of the Connies has it."

"Get it. I'll notify Terra base of what happened."

Koa found the Connie with the communicator, tested it to be sure the
prisoner hadn't sabotaged it, and brought it to Rip.

"This is Foster to Terra base. Over."

"Come in, Foster."

Rip explained briefly what had happened and asked, "How is our orbit? I
haven't had time to take sightings."

"You're free of the sun," Terra base answered. "Your orbit will have to be
corrected sometime within the next few hours. The last blast pushed you
off course."

"That's a small matter," Rip stated. "Unless we can think of something
fast, this will be a Connie asteroid by then. The Consops cruiser is
moving in on us. He's careful, because he isn't sure of the situation. But
even at his present speed he'll be here in ten minutes."

"Stand by." Terra base was silent for a few moments, then the voice
replied. "I think we have an answer for you, Foster. Terra base off. Go
ahead, MacFife."

A Scotti