e
struggling figures behind--and the wrong one might get it.

The Connie saw Rip's action and tossed his pistol aside. He, too, knew he
couldn't fire. He reached into a knee pouch and drew out his space knife.
He leaped for the Planeteer.

Rip pulled frantically at his pistol. It was stuck fast, probably caught
in the fabric by his knee landing. The space knife wouldn't be caught. It
was smooth, with no projections to catch. He shifted knees and jerked it
out.

The Connie's flying body hit him, and a powerful arm circled his waist.
Rip thrust upward with his knees, one hand reaching for the Connie's
suit valve. But the Connie had one arm free, too. He drove his glove up
under Rip's heart. Rip let go of the valve and used his elbow to lever
away, just as the Connie pressed his knife's release valve. The blade
slammed outward and drove into the inside of Rip's right arm, just above
the elbow.

Pain lanced through him, and he felt the blood rush to the wound as air
poured through the gap in his suit. He gritted his teeth and smashed at
the Connie with his own knife. It rammed home, and he squeezed the
release. The blade connected solidly. He was suddenly free.

He pressed the wounded arm to his side, stopping the outpouring of
air. The cut hurt like all the devils of space. With his other hand he
increased the air in his suit, then looked swiftly around. The Connie was
on his knees, both gloves pressed tightly to his side.

Dowst was just finishing a knot in the safety line that bound a second
enemy's hands. The Connie Rip had rocketed down on was still lying where
he had fallen. And Corporal Santos, the enemy's pneumatic chatter gun at
the ready, was standing guard.

Rip turned up the volume in his communicator. He tried to sound calm,
but the shakiness of triumph and excitement was in his voice. "All
Planeteers. We have the Connie snapper-boats. Koa, bring your men here."

He felt someone working on his arm and turned to see Corporal Pederson,
his face one vast grin in the glare from Dowst's belt light. "Koa didn't
need me," he said.

Rip grinned back. "Nunez," he called, "how are things at the cave?"

"Sir, this is Nunez. Two Connies were prowling around, but they didn't
see the entrance. Then, a minute ago, they hurried away."

Rip considered. "Koa, how many Connies have you?"

"Four, sir."

With the five he and Dowst had taken, that meant four sill at large, and
from Nunex's report, some Connie yelling