e
Consops ship might fire first. Or an accident might happen."

The commander leaned forward. "We'll find that asteroid for you, Mr.
Planeteer. We'll put you on it and see you on your way. Then we'll ride
space along with you, and if any Consops thieves try to take over and
collect that thorium for themselves, they'll find Kevin O'Brine waiting.
That's a promise."

Rip felt a lot better. He sat back in his chair and regarded the
commander with mixed respect and something else. Against his will, he
was beginning to like the man. No doubt of it, the _Scorpius_ was well
named. And the sting in the scorpion's tail was O'Brine himself.

CHAPTER FIVE

The Gray World

Rip rejoined his Planeteers in the supply room and motioned for them
to gather around him. "I know why Terra base sent us the fighting
equipment," he announced. "They were afraid word of this thorium asteroid
would leak out to Consops--and it has. A Connie cruiser blasted off from
Marsport and it's headed this way."

He watched the faces of his men carefully, to see how they would take the
news. They merely looked at each other and shrugged. Conflict with
Consops was nothing new to them.

"The freighter that found the asteroid landed at Marsport, didn't it?"
Koa asked. Getting a nod from Rip, he went on, "Then I know what probably
happened. The two things spacemen can't do are breathe high vack and keep
their mouths shut. Some of the crew blabbed about the asteroid, probably
at the Space Club. That's where they hang out. The Connies hang out
there, too. Result, we get a Connie cruiser after the asteroid."

"You hit it," Rip acknowledged.

Corporal Santos shrugged. "If the Connies try to take the asteroid away,
they'll have a real warm time. We have ten racks of rockets, twenty-four
to a rack. That's a lot of snapper-boats we can pick off if they try to
make a landing."

The Planeteers stopped talking as the voice horn sounded. "Get it! We are
going into no-weight. Prepare to stay in no-weight indefinitely. Rotation
stops in two minutes."

Rip realized why the order was given. The _Scorpius_ could not maneuver
while in a gravity spin, and O'Brine wanted to be free to take action if
necessary.

The voice horn came on again. "Now get it again. The ship may maneuver
suddenly. Prepare for acceleration or deceleration without warning. One
minute to no-weight."

Rip gave quick orders. "Get lines around the equipment and prepare to
haul it. I'll