n idea for
their boat. It was able to maneuver infinitely faster than the big
cruiser. They could put the supplies in the cave, then take to the boat,
depending on its ability to turn quickly and on Dowst's skill at piloting
to play hide and seek. Dowst certainly could keep the asteroid between
them and the cruiser.

The plan would fail when the cruiser sent a landing party. They would
certainly come in snapper-boats, and those deadly little fighting craft
could blast rings around the landing boat. The snapper-boats had gotten
their name because fast acceleration and quick changes of position could
snap a man right out of his seat if he forgot to buckle his harness
tightly.

The solution would be to keep the landing boat close to the asteroid. At
the first sign of a landing party, they would take to the cave, using the
rocket launcher as a defense.

The supplies began to arrive. The Planeteers towed them two crates at a
time in a steady line of hurrying men.

Kemp's torch sent an incandescent knife three feet into the metal at each
cut. He was rapidly slicing out a cave. He cut the metal out in great
triangular bars, angling the torch from first one side, then the other.

Koa came and stood beside Rip. "I haven't seen the Connie's exhaust for a
while, sir. They've probably stopped decelerating. We can't see them at
all."

"Meaning what?" Rip asked. He thought he knew, but he wanted Koa's
opinion.

"They're in free fall now, sir. That could mean they're just hunting in
the area. Or it could mean that they've stopped somewhere close by. They
could be looking us over right now, for all we know."

Rip surveyed the stars. "If that's so, they're not too close, Koa.
Otherwise they'd block out a patch of stars."

"Well, sir--" Koa hesitated. "I mean, if you were looking over this
asteroid, and you weren't sure whether the enemy had it or not, how close
would you get?"

"Probably about one AU," Rip said jokingly. That was one astronomical
unit, equal to about ninety-three million miles, the distance from Earth
to the sun.

"That's a safe distance, sir," Koa agreed with a grin.

"But let's suppose the Connie isn't as timid as I am," Rip went on. "He
might be only a few miles out. The question is, would he wait to get
closer before launching his snapper-boats?"

The tall officer answered frankly, "I've never been in a space grab like
this. I don't know the answer."

"We'll soon know," Rip replied grimly. A thoug