That was one astronomical
unit, equal to about ninety-three million miles, the distance from Earth
to the sun.
"That's a safe distance, sir," Koa agreed with a grin.
"But let's suppose the Connie isn't as timid as I am," Rip went on. "He
might be only a few miles out. The question is, would he wait to get
closer before launching his snapper-boats?"
The tall officer answered frankly, "I've never been in a space grab like
this. I don't know the answer."
"We'll soon know," Rip replied grimly. A thought had just struck him. The
_Scorpius_ had trouble finding the asteroid because it was just one of
many sailing along through the belt. But now the asteroid was the only
one traveling _across_ the belt. It would make an outstanding blip on any
radarscope. It wasn't possible that the Connie cruiser had missed the
blip and its significance.
"The Connie may be looking us over," Rip added, "but I'll tell you one
thing. He knows we've taken the asteroid."
Koa looked wistfully at the atomic bomb which remained. "If we had a way
to throw that thing at them...."
"But we haven't. And the thing wouldn't explode, anyway. We don't have
the outside casing with an exploder mechanism, so it has to be turned on
electrically.
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