Rip Foster in Ride the Gray Planet Part 18

Because his voice was weak, Rip had to turn up the volume on his communicator to tell the Planeteers about the _Scorpius_. They were silent when he finished. Then Dowst spoke up.

"Looks like they have us, sir. But we'll take plenty of them with us before we're finished."

"That's the spirit," Rip told them. "I won't last much longer. When I get too weak, Koa will take over. Meanwhile, I want to get outside. Bring the rocket launcher outside, too. Who's the gunner? Santos? Stand by, then.

We'll need you, in case the Connie decides to send a few snappers before it goes after the Scorpius."

The cruiser's glow was plain above the horizon now. It was so close that they could make out its form against the background of stars. O'Brine was decelerating, and Rip was certain he was watching his screens for a sign of the enemy. He would see nothing, because the enemy was in the shadow of the asteroid. He would think the coast was clear and would come to a stop nearby while he asked why Rip had called for help. Failing to get a reply, since the landing boat was wrecked, he would send a landing party, and the Connie would attack while he was launching boats, off guard.

Rip watched the prediction come true. The nuclear cruiser slowed gradually, its great bulk nearing the asteroid. O'Brine was operating as expected.

Rip was having trouble keeping his vision from blurring. He leaned against the rocket launcher, and his glove caressed one of the sharp noses in the rack.

He heard his own voice before the idea had even taken full form. "Santos!

Do you hear me? Santos! Get the _Scorpius_! Fire before it comes to a stop. And don't miss!"

Santos started to protest, but Koa bellowed, "Do it! The lieutenant's right. It's the only chance we've got to warn the s.h.i.+p. Get the scorpion, Santos. Dead amids.h.i.+ps!"

The young corporal swung into action. His s.p.a.ce gloves flew as he cranked the launcher around, turned on the illuminated sight, and bent low over it. Rip stood behind the corporal. He saw the cruiser's shape stand out in the glow of the sight, saw the sighting rings move as Santos corrected for its speed.

The corporal fired. Fire flared back past his shoulder. The rocket flashed away, its trail dwindling as it sped toward the great bulk above. It reached _Brennschluss_, and there was darkness. Rip held his breath for long seconds, then gave a weak cry of victory.

A blossom of orange fire marked a perfect hit.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Hard Words

The _Scorpius_ could have taken direct hits with little or no major damage from a hundred rockets of the kind Rip had used, but Commander O'Brine took no chances. When the alarm bell signaled that the outer hull had been hit, the commander acted instantly with a bellowed order.

The Planeteers on the asteroid blinked at the speed of the cruiser's getaway. Fire flamed from the stern tubes for an instant, and then there was nothing but a fading glow where the _Scorpius_ had been.

Rip had a mental image of everything movable in the s.h.i.+p cras.h.i.+ng against bulkheads with the terrific acceleration.

And in the same moment, the Consops cruiser reacted. The Connie commander was ready to fire guided missiles, when his target suddenly, mysteriously, blasted into s.p.a.ce at optimum acceleration. There was only one reason the Connie could imagine: His cruiser had been spotted. The ambush had failed. It was one thing for the Connie to lie in ambush for a single, deadly surprise blast at the Federation cruiser. It was quite another to face the nuclear drive s.h.i.+p with its missile ports cleared for action. The Connie knew he had lost.

Rip and the Planeteers saw the Consops s.h.i.+p suddenly flame away, then turn and dive for low s.p.a.ce below the asteroid belt, in a direction opposite to the one the _Scorpius_ had taken. The Planeteers' helmet communicators rang with their cheers.

The young officer clapped Santos on the shoulder and exclaimed weakly, "Good shooting!"

The corporal turned anxiously to Koa. "The lieutenant's pretty weak.

Can't we do something?"

"Forget it," Rip said. There was nothing anyone could do. He was trapped inside his s.p.a.ce suit. There was nothing anyone could do for his wound until he got into air.

Koa untied his safety line and moved to Rip's side. "Sir, this is dangerous, but there's just as much danger without it. I'm going to tie off that arm."

Rip knew what Koa meant. He stood quietly as the big sergeant major put the line around his arm above the wound, then put his ma.s.sive strength into the task of pulling the line tight.

The heavy fabric of the suit was stiff, and the air pressure gave further resistance that had to be overcome. Rip let most of the air out of the suit, then fought for breath until the pain in his arm told him that Koa had succeeded. He inflated the suit again and thanked the sergeant major weakly.

The tight line stopped the bleeding, but it also cut off the air circulation. Without the air, the heating system couldn't operate efficiently. It was only a matter of time before the arm froze.

"Stand easy," Rip told his men. "Nothing to do now but wait. The _Scorpius_ will be back." He set an example by leaning against the thorium crystal in which the cave was located. It was a natural but rather meaningless gesture. With virtually no gravity pulling at them, they could remain standing almost indefinitely, sleeping upright.

Rip closed his eyes and relaxed. The pain in his arm was less now, and he knew the cold was setting in. He was getting lightheaded, and, most of all, he wanted to sleep. Well, why not? He slumped a little inside the suit.

He awoke with Koa shaking him violently. Rip stood upright and shook his head to clear his vision. "What is it?"

"Sir, the _Scorpius_ has returned."

Rip blinked as he stared out into s.p.a.ce to where Koa was pointing. He had trouble focusing his eyes at first, and then he saw the glow of the cruiser.

"Good," he said. "They'll send a landing boat first thing."

"I hope so," Koa replied.

Rip wanted to ask why the big Planeteer was dubious, but he was too tired to phrase the question. He contented himself with watching the cruiser.

In a short time the _Scorpius_ was balanced, with nose tubes counteracting the thrust of stern tubes, ready to flash into s.p.a.ce again at a second's notice.

Rip watched, puzzled. The cruiser was miles away. Why didn't it come any closer? Then suddenly it erupted a dozen fiery streaks.

"Snapper-boats!" someone gasped.

Rip jerked fully awake. In the ruddy glow of the fighting rockets' tubes, he had seen that the cruiser's missile ports were yawning wide, ready to spew forth their deadly nuclear charges in an instant.

The snapper-boats flashed toward the asteroid in a group, sheered off, and broke formation. They came back in pairs, streaking s.p.a.ce with the sparks of their exhausts.

"Into the cave," Koa shouted.

The Planeteers obeyed instantly. Koa took Rip's arm to lead him inside, but the young officer shook him off. "No, Koa. I'll take my chances out here. I want to see what they're up to."

"Great Cosmos, sir! They'll go over this rock like Martian beetles.

You'll get it, for sure."

"Get inside," Rip ordered. He gathered strength enough to make his voice firm. "I'm staying here until I figure out some way to call them off. We can't just stand here and let them blast us. They're our own men."

"Then I'm staying, too," Koa stated.

A pair of snapper-boats flashed overhead and vanished below the horizon.

Two more swept past from another direction.

Rip watched, curious. What were they up to? Another pair quartered past them at high speed, then two more. The boats seemed to be crisscrossing the asteroid in a definite pattern.