Part 11 (1/2)

Moving around on a no-weight world was more like skating than walking. A regular walk would have lifted Koa into s.p.a.ce with every step. Of course the asteroid had some gravity, but it was so slight that it didn't count.

Rip centered the top of the instrument's vertical hair line on Alpha Centauri, then waited until Koa was almost out of sight over the asteroid's horizon, which was only a few hundred yards away.

He turned up the volume on his helmet communicator. ”Koa, move about ten feet to your left.”

Koa did so. Rip sighted past the vertical hairline at the belt light.

”That's a little too far. Take a small step to the right. Good ... just a few inches more ... hold it. You're right in position. Stand where you are.”

”Yessir.”

Rip turned to Santos. ”Stand here, Corporal. Take a sight at Koa through the instrument to get your bearings, then hold position.”

Santos did so. Now the two lights gave Rip one of the lines he needed. He called for two more men, and Trudeau and Nunez joined him. ”Follow me,” he directed.

Rip picked up the instrument and carried it to a point 90 degrees from the line represented by Koa and Santos. He put the instrument down and zeroed it on Messier 44, the Beehive star cl.u.s.ter in the constellation Cancer.

For the second sighting star he chose Beta Pyxis as being closest to the line he wanted, made the slight adjustments necessary to set the line of sight since Pyxis wasn't exactly on it, then directed Trudeau into position as he had Koa. Nunez took position behind the instrument and Rip had the cross-fix he wanted.

He called for Dowst, then carried the instrument to the center of the cross formed by the four men. Using the instrument, he rechecked the lines from the center out. They were within a hair or two of being exactly on, and a slight error wouldn't hurt anyway. He knew he would have to correct with rocket blasts once the asteroid was in the new orbit.

”X marks the spot,” he told Dowst. He put his toe on the place where the cross lines met.

Dowst took a spike from his belt and made an X in the metal ground.

”All set,” Rip announced. ”You four men can move now. Let's have the cutting equipment over here, Koa.”

The Planeteers were all waiting for instructions now. In a few moments the equipment was ready, fuel and oxygen bottles attached.

”Who's the champion torchman?” Rip asked.

Koa replied, ”Kemp is, sir.”

Kemp, one of the two American privates, took the torch and waited for orders. ”We need a hole six feet across and twenty feet deep,” Rip told him. ”Go to it.”

”How about direction, sir?” Kemp asked.

”Straight down. We'll take a bearing on an overhead star when you're in a few feet.”

Dowst inscribed a circle around the X he had made and stood back. Kemp pushed the striker b.u.t.ton and the torch flared. ”Watch your eyes,” he warned. The Planeteers reached for belt controls and turned the rheostats that darkened the clear bubbles electronically. Kemp adjusted his flame until it was blue-white, a knife of fire brighter by far than the sun.

Koa stepped behind Kemp and leaned against his back, because the flame of the torch was like an exhaust, driving Kemp backward. Kemp bent down and the torch sliced into the metal of the asteroid like a hot knife into ice.

The metal splintered a little as the heat raised it instantly from almost absolute zero to many thousands of degrees.

When the circle was completed, Kemp adjusted his torch again and the flame lengthened. He moved inside the circle and cut at an angle toward the perimeter. His control was quick and certain. In a moment he stood aside and Koa lifted out a perfect ring of thorium. It varied from a knife edge on the inner side to 18 inches thick on the outer edge.

In the middle of the circle there was now a cone of metal. Kemp cut around it, the torch angling toward the center. A piece shaped like two cones set base to base came free. Since the metal cooled in the bitter chill of s.p.a.ce almost as fast as Kemp could cut it, there was no heat to worry about.

Alternately cutting from the outside and the center of the hole, Kemp worked his way downward until his head was below ground level. Rip called a halt. Kemp gave a little jump and floated straight upward. Koa caught him and swung him to one side. Rip stepped into the hole and Santos gave him a slight push to send him to the bottom. Rip knelt and sighted upward.

Kemp had done a good job. The star Rip had chosen as an overhead guide was straight up.

He bounced out of the hole and as Koa caught him he told Kemp to go ahead.