ave a little light, but it was too faint to help much. Rip's
plan was that the Connies would supply the light needed for an attack.

In a few seconds, as Santos had predicted, belt light beams cut sharp
paths through the darkness. Rip sized up the possibilities. There were
two teams of two men each, and they were getting farther apart with each
step. One team was coming almost directly toward them. The other two men
slanted away from them and would soon be out of sight behind the thorium
crystals in which the cave was located. Fortunately, the Connies were
going away from the cave.

A Connie from the nearby team swung his beam back and forth, and it cut
space over their heads. Rip saw a few low pyramids of thorium a few rods
away. Quickly he ordered, "Dowst, hang on to my boots. Dominico, hang on
to Dowst's boots."

He lay face down on the metal ground until he felt hands grip his boots,
then he asked, "All set?"

Two voices answered, "Ready."

Rip put his gloves on the ground, then heaved forward and slightly upward
to overcome his inertia and that of his men. The trio moved slowly,
almost parallel with the surface. Once or twice Rip reached down to a
convenient crystal and put his strength into changing course and
altitude. Those were the only times when he felt the tug of his men.

He reached the first pyramid of thorium and directed, "Get behind these
rocks and stay down. Feel your way. Use me for a guide. I'll hold on
until you're under cover." He gripped a crystal. "Come on."

Dominico pulled himself along Dowst's prone form and then along Rip's.
When Dominico had reached the shelter of the crystals, Dowst crawled
along, with Rip's body for his guide, passed over him, and reached cover.
Rip followed.

The belt lights of the two Connies were almost abreast of them. Far to
their left, Rip saw another pair of lights. That was a pair he hadn't
seen before.

"We'll wait until they pass," he told his men. "Then we'll get up and
rush them from behind. They can't hear us coming. Dowst, you take the
near one. I'll take the far one. Dominico, you help as needed, but
concentrate on cutting off their equipment. The first thing we must do is
cut their communicators; otherwise they'll warn the rest. Then turn off
their air supplies and collapse their suits."

One thing was in their favor. The space suits worn by the Connies were
almost the same as theirs. The controls were of the same kind. The only
way to know a Co