The _Aquila's_ boat arrived with astonishing speed. Rip saw it flash in
the sunlight and knew he had never seen one like it before. It was a
perfect globe, about twenty feet in diameter. Blast holes covered the
globe at intervals of six feet.
The boat settled to the asteroid, and a new voice called over the helmet
circuit, "Where's Foster? Show an exhaust! We're in a rush."
"Yes, sir."
He hurried to the boat and stood there, bewildered. He didn't know how to
get in.
"Up here," the voice called. He looked up and saw a hatch. He jumped, and
a space-suited figure pulled him inside. The door shut, and the boat
blasted off. Acceleration shoved him backward, but the spaceman snapped a
line to his belt, then motioned him to a seat. Rip pulled himself up the
line and got into the seat, snapping the harness in place.
"I'm Hawkins, senior space officer," the spaceman said. "Welcome, Foster.
We've been losing weight wondering if we'd get here in time."
"I was never so glad to see spacemen in my life," Rip said truthfully.
"What kind of craft is this, sir?"
"Experimental," the space officer answered. "It has a number, but we call
it the ball-bat because it's shaped like a ball and goes like a bat.
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