"
"Read it aloud," O'Brine ordered.
"Yes, sir. It's addressed to you, this ship. From Planeteer Intelligence,
Marsport. 'Consops cruiser departed general direction your area. Agents
report crew _Altair_ may have leaked data re asteroid. Take appropriate
action.' It's signed 'Williams, SOS, Commanding.'"
Rip saw the meaning of the message instantly. The Consolidation of
People's Governments, of Earth, traditional enemies and rivals of the
Federation of Free Governments, needed radioactive minerals as badly as,
or worse than, the Federation. In space it was first come, first take.
They had to find the asteroid quickly. It was to prevent Consops from
knowing of the asteroid that security measures had been taken. They
hadn't worked, because of loose space chatter at Marsport.
O'Brine issued quick orders. "Now, get this. We have to work fast.
Accelerate fifty percent, same course. I want two men on each screen.
If anything of the right size shows up, decelerate until we can get mass
and albedo measurements. Snap to it."
The space officers started out, but O'Brine stopped them. "Use one
long-range screen for scanning high space toward Mars. Let me know
the minute you get a blip, because it probably will be that Consops
cruiser.
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