The sun grew larger and the heat more intense with each minute, since
each minute brought them almost thirteen hundred miles closer to the
sun's blazing surface. With the humidity-control and air-cooling
mechanisms in the space suits working at top capacity but affording
little relief, Alfie, Roger, Shinny, and Astro buried the fourth reactor
unit and headed for the fifth and last emplacement. Occasionally one of
them would turn and cast a swift glance at the clear blue space
overhead, secretly hoping to find the rocket cruiser had returned. Or,
they would strain their ears for Tom's voice counting off the minutes so
carefully for them. But they saw nothing and they heard nothing. They
concentrated on their jobs, working like demons to complete the
installations as planned. They could not stop now and wonder what had
happened to the _Polaris_, or even hope for its speedy return. They had
a job to do, and they went about it silently, efficiently, and surely.

Astro stood up, the small spade in his hand hanging loosely at his side.
He watched Roger and Alfie bring the last of the reactor units from
Major Connel's jet boat. They gently lowered it into the hole and
stepped back while Shinny, under the watchful eyes of Major Connel, set
the fuse. Shinny stepped back, and Astro began covering up the lead box.

"That's it," said Connel. "We're finished!"

What Connel meant was that they were finished with the placement of the
reactor units, but he knew immediately that his words had been taken to
mean something each felt but had not dared to put into words.

Connel started to correct this misunderstanding but caught himself in
time. It would not do, he thought, for him to make excuses for what they
knew to be the truth.

"All right, everyone in my jet boat," he snapped. "Astro, you and Roger
take all the fuel out of the other boats and pour it into mine. It'll be
a tight squeeze, but we can all fit into one craft. No use expending
fuel wastefully."

Astro and Roger bent to the task of draining the fuel from their jet
boats and loading it into Connel's.

Alfie came over to join them, while Shinny and Connel scanned the sky
overhead for some sign of the _Polaris_.

"This is really a desperate situation to be in, isn't it, Roger?" asked
Alfie.

"Offhand, I'd say yes," drawled Roger, "but since we've got two big
huskies like Astro and Major Connel along, I don't think we'll have much
trouble."

"Why not?" asked Alfie.