rtical hairline on Alpha
Centauri, then waited until Koa was almost out of sight over the
asteroid's horizon, which was only a few hundred yards away.

He turned up the volume on his helmet communicator. "Koa, move about ten
feet to your left."

Koa did so. Rip sighted past the vertical hairline at the belt light.
"That's a little too far. Take a small step to the right. That's
good ... just a few inches more ... hold it. You're right in position.
Stand where you are."

"Yessir."

Rip turned to Santos. "Stand here, Corporal. Take a sight at Koa to get
your bearings, then hold position."

Santos did so. Now the two lights gave Rip one of the lines he needed. He
called for two more men, and Trudeau and Nunez joined him. "Follow me,"
he directed.

Rip picked up the instrument and carried it to a point ninety degrees
from the line represented by Koa and Santos. He put the instrument down
and zeroed it on Messier 44, the Beehive star cluster in the
constellation Cancer. For the second sighting star he chose Beta Pyxis
as being closest to the line he wanted, made the slight adjustments
necessary to set the line of sight, since Pyxis wasn't exactly on it,
then directed Trudeau into position as he had Koa. Nunez took position
behind the instrument, and Rip had his cross fix.

He called for Dowst, then carried the instrument to the center of the
cross formed by the four men. Using the instrument, he rechecked the
lines from the center out. They were within a hair or two of being
exactly on, and a slight error wouldn't hurt, anyway. He knew he would
have to correct with rocket blasts once the asteroid was in the new
orbit.

"X marks the spot," he told Dowst. He put his toe on the place where the
crosslines met.

Dowst used a spike to make an X in the metal ground.

"All set," Rip announced. "You four men can move now. Let's have the
cutting equipment over here, Koa."

The Planeteers were all waiting for instructions now. In a few moments
the equipment was ready, fuel and oxygen bottles attached.

"Who's the champion torchman?" Rip asked.

Koa replied, "Kemp is, sir."

Kemp, one of the two American privates, took the torch and waited for
orders. "We need a hole six feet across and twenty feet deep," Rip told
him. "Go to it."

"How about direction, sir?" Kemp asked.

"Straight down. We'll take a bearing on an overhead star when you're in a
few feet."

Dowst inscribed a circle around the X he had made and sto