He had to be careful, otherwise their
counterblast might do nothing more than start the gray planet wobbling.
He and Kemp ran ahead of the others. The Planeteers and their prisoners
were running at a speed that kept them right in the middle of the dark
area.
It was like running on a treadmill. The Planeteers were making good
speed, but were actually staying in the same place relative to the sun's
position, keeping the turning asteroid between them and the sun.
Rip and Kemp ran forward until they were right at the sun line. Then they
slowed down, holding position and waiting for the crystal they had chosen
to reach them. As it came across the sun line into darkness, they stopped
running and rode the crystal through the shadow until it reached the sun
again. Then the two Planeteers ran back across the dark zone to meet the
crystal as it came around again. There was only a few minutes' working
time each revolution.
Kemp worked fast, and the first hole deepened. Rip helped as best he
could by pushing away the chunks of thorium that Kemp cut free, but it
was essentially a one-man job.
As Kemp neared the bottom of the first hole, Rip reviewed his plan and
realized he had overlooked something.
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