He pointed to it. "Let's have a hole straight in for six
feet. And keep it straight, Kemp. Allow enough room for a lining of
nuclite. Koa, cut a sheet of nuclite to size."
Kemp's torch already was slicing into the metal. Rip asked, "Can you weld
with that thing, Kemp?"
"Just show me what you want, sir."
"Good." Rip motioned to Trudeau. "Frenchy, we'll need a strong rod at
least eight feet long."
The French Planeteer hurried off. Rip consulted his chronometer. Less
than ten minutes had passed since the call from Terra base.
He went over his plan again. It had to work! If it didn't, asteroid and
Planeteers would end up as subatomic particles in the sun's photosphere,
because he had calculated his blast to drive the asteroid past the limit
of safety. It was the only way he could be sure of putting them beyond
danger from Connie landing boats or snapper-boats. The Connie would have
only one chance--to bring his cruiser down.
If he tried that, Rip thought grimly, he would get a surprise. The second
nuclear charge would be set, ready to be fired. The Connie cruiser was
so big that no matter how it pulled up to the asteroid, some part of it
would be close enough to the charge to be blown into space dust.
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