They left the asteroid belt far behind and passed within ten thousand
miles of Mars. The _Scorpius_ sent its entire complement of snapper-boats
to the asteroid for protection, in case Consops made another try, then
flamed off to Marsport to put in new supplies to replace those damaged
when Rip had forced sudden and disastrous acceleration.
The asteroid had reached Earth's solar orbit before the cruiser returned,
though Earth itself was on the other side of the sun. Rip ordered a
survey and found the best place on the dark side to make a new base. The
Planeteers cut out a cave with the torch, lined it with nuclite, and
moved in the supplies. It would be their base to the end of the trip.
The sun was very hot now. On the sunny side of the asteroid the
temperature had soared far past the boiling point of water. But on the
dark side, Rip measured temperatures close to absolute zero.
When the _Scorpius_ returned, he arranged with Commander O'Brine for the
Planeteers to take turns going to the cruiser for showers and decent
meals.
The asteroid approached the orbit of Venus, but the bright planet was
some distance away, at its greatest elongation to the east of the sun.
Mercury, however, loomed larger and larger.
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