Then, handling the controls with the skill
of long practice, he lifted the tiny fighting rocket above the asteroid
and waited for the landing boat. When it joined up, Rip led the way to
safety. As he cut his exhaust to wait for the explosion, he sighted past
the snapper-boat's nose to the asteroid.
Even though both boats had been careful to match velocity with the
asteroid as closely as possible, the slight difference remaining caused
them to drift sunward. Rip cut his jets in to compensate, and saw Dowst
do the same.
Another few miles toward the sun, and the landing boat wouldn't have the
power to get away from Sol's gravity. A few miles beyond that, even the
powerful little snapper-boat would be caught.
Below, the timer reached zero. A mighty fan of fire shot into space. The
asteroid shuddered from the blast, then swerved gradually, picking up
speed as well as new direction.
Rip swallowed hard. Now they were committed. They would reach a new
perihelion far beyond the limits of safety. _P_ for perihelion and _P_ for
peril. In this case, they were the same thing!
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Between Two Fires
Back on the asteroid, the Planeteers started laying the second atomic
charge.
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