ip took a tube
from Dominico. "Take your space knife and saw through the tube you have
left. We'll need about three-fifths of it. Keep both pieces."

Dominico pulled his knife, pressed the release, and the gas capsule shot
the blade out. He got to work.

Koa called that he was ready. Rip took the wired igniter from him and
thrust it into the tube Dominico had given him.

As the crystal came around again, the process was repeated. The hole was
undamaged.

There was more time to get clear because of the asteroid's slower speed.
The second tube slowed the rock even more, so that they had to wait long
minutes while the crystal came around again.

Rip did some estimating. He wanted to be sure the next charge would do
nothing more than slow the asteroid to a stop. If the charge were too
heavy, it would reverse the spin. He didn't want to make a career of
running on the asteroid. He was tired, and he knew his men were getting
weary, too. He could see it in their strides.

He decided it would be best to use a little less fuel rather than a
little more. If the asteroid failed to stop its spin completely, they
could always set off a small charge or two.

"Hold it," he ordered. "We'll use the small end of Dominico's tube and
save the big one."

The fuel was a solid mass, so cutting the tube in two sections caused no
difficulty. Rip pushed the igniter into the small section, seated it in
the hole, and hurried to cover. As he watched the fuel burn, he wondered
why the last nuclear charge had started the spin. He had made a mistake
somewhere. The earlier blasts had been set so they wouldn't cause a spin.
He made a mental note to look at the place where the charge had exploded.

The rocket fuel slowed the asteroid down to a point where it was barely
turning, and Rip was glad he had been cautious. The heavier charge would
have reversed it a little. He directed the placing of a very small charge
and was moving away from it so Koa could set it off when Santos suddenly
yelled, "Sir! The Connie is coming!"

Rip called, "Fire the charge, Koa," then looked up. The Consops cruiser
was moving slowly toward them. The canny Connie had been waiting for
something to happen on the asteroid, Rip guessed. When the spinning
slowed and then stopped, the Connie probably had decided that now was
the time for a final try.

"Where is the communicator?" Rip asked the sergeant major.

"One of the Connies has it."

"Get it. I'll notify Terra b