"Take
Foster. A few weeks ago he was just a cadet, a raw recruit who had never
met high vack. Now he's talking like the grandfather of all space. I
don't know how the Special Order Squadrons ever got along before he
became an officer."
Rip had been feeling a little too proud of himself.
"It's good to get back," Rip said.
CHAPTER TWENTY
On the Platform
There were two things Rip could see from his hospital bed on the space
platform. One was the great curve of Earth. He was anxious to get out
of the hospital and back to Terra.
The second thing was the asteroid. Spacemen were at work on it, slowly
cutting it to pieces. The pieces were small enough to be carried back to
Earth in supply rockets. It would be a long time before the asteroid was
completely cut up and transported to Terra base.
Sergeant Major Koa came into the hospital ward and sat on Rip's bed. The
plastifoam mattress compressed under his weight. "How are you feeling,
sir?"
"Pretty good," Rip replied. The worst of the radiation sickness was over,
and he was mending fast. Here and there were little bloodstains, just
below the surface of his skin, and he had no more hair than a plastic
ball. Otherwise he looked normal.
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