oved in the supplies. It would be their base to the end of the trip.

The sun was very hot now. On the sunny side of the asteroid the
temperature had soared far past the boiling point of water. But on the
dark side, Rip measured temperatures close to absolute zero.

When the _Scorpius_ returned, he arranged with Commander O'Brine for the
Planeteers to take turns going to the cruiser for showers and decent
meals.

The asteroid approached the orbit of Venus, but the bright planet was
some distance away, at its greatest elongation to the east of the sun.
Mercury, however, loomed larger and larger. They would pass close to the
hot planet.

O'Brine recalled Rip to the _Scorpius_ and handed him a message.

Asteroid now within protection reach of Mercury and Terra bases. Your
escort no longer required. Proceed immediately Titan, take on cargo and
personnel.

The commander sighed. "Looks like I'll never get to Earth long enough to
see my family."

Rip sympathized. "Tough, sir. Perhaps the cargo from Titan will be
scheduled for Terra."

"That's what I hope," O'Brine agreed. "Well, here's where we part. Is
there anything you need?"

Rip made a mental check on supplies. He had more than enough. "The only
thing we need is a long-range communicator, sir. We'll need one to
contact the planet bases."

"I'll see that you get one." The Irishman thrust out his hand. "Stay
out of high vack, Foster. Too bad you didn't join us instead of the
Planeteers. I might have made a decent officer out of you."

Rip grinned. "That's a real compliment, sir. I might return it by saying
that you have the makings of a Planeteer officer yourself."

O'Brine chuckled. "All right. Let's declare a truce, Planeteer. We'll
meet again. Space isn't very big."

A short time later Rip stood in front of his asteroid base and watched
the great cruiser drive into space. A short distance away a snapper-boat
was lashed to the landing boat. O'Brine had left it, with a word of
warning.

"These Connies are plenty smart. I don't like leaving you unprotected,
even within reach of Mercury and Terra, but orders are orders. Keep the
snapper-boat, and you'll at least be able to put up a fight if you bump
into trouble."

The asteroid sped on its lonely way for two days, and then a cruiser came
out of space, its nuclear drive glowing. The Planeteers manned the rocket
launcher, and Rip and Santos stood by the snapper-boat, just in case, but
the cruiser was