He gasped, "Great space! We're in a mess, Santos."
The corporal asked, still in a calm voice, "How long will it be before
we're dragged into the sun, sir?"
Rip stared. Santos had used the same tone he might have used in asking
for a piece of Venusian _chru_. An officer couldn't be less calm, so
Rip replied in a voice he hoped was casual, "I wouldn't worry, Santos. We
won't know it. The heat will get through our suits long before then."
In fact, the heat should be overloading their ventilating systems
right now. In a few minutes the cooling elements would break down, and
that would be the end. He listened for the accelerated whine as the
ventilating systems struggled under the increased heat load but heard
nothing.
Funny. Had it overloaded and given out already? No, that was impossible.
He would be feeling the heat on his body if that were the case.
He looked for an explanation and realized for the first time that they
weren't in the sunlight at all. They were in darkness. His searching
glance told him they were in the cone of shadow stretching out from
behind the asteroid. The thorium rock was between them and the sun!
His lips moved soundlessly. Maj. Joe Barris had been right. _In a jam,
trust your hunch.
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