He turned up his helmet communicator and
ordered all hands to watch for the exhaust of a nuclear drive cruiser,
then turned it down again and gave Koa instructions.
"Have Trudeau turn his load over to a Connie and collect the igniters and
the dynamo. We'll need wire, too. Who has that?"
"Another Connie."
"Get a reel. Cut off a few hundred feet and connect the dynamo to one end
and an igniter to the other."
The crystal came around again, and Kemp got to work. Rip stood by, again
reviewing all steps. They couldn't afford to make a mistake. He had no
margin for error.
Kemp finished the hole a few seconds before the crystal turned into the
sunlight again. Rip told him to keep the torch going. There might be some
last minute cutting to do. Then the lieutenant hurried off at an angle to
where Dominico was plodding along with the fuel tubes.
Koa had turned the tube he carried over to a Connie. Rip got it and told
Dominico to follow him. Then he angled back across the asteroid to where
Kemp was holding position.
The asteroid turned twice before Koa arrived. He had a coil of wire slung
over his arm, and he carried the dynamo in one hand and an igniter in the
other, the two connected by the wire.
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