"
Mason twisted his face into a scowl. "Sounds awful risky to me," he
muttered.
"Sure it's risky," sneered Loring, "but you don't hit the jackpot
without ever taking a _chance_!"
The two men, huddled against a jumble of packing cases in the cargo hold
of the _Annie Jones_, made careful preparations. Checking their weapons,
they opened their way toward the freighter's control deck. Just outside
the hatch they stopped, paralo-ray guns ready, and listened.
Inside, Pilot James Jardine and Leland Bangs, his first officer, were
preparing for the landing at the space station.
"Ought to be picking up the approach radar signal pretty soon," said
Bangs. "Better take her off automatic control, Jardine. Use the manual
for close maneuvering."
"Right," answered his spacemate. "Send out a radar blip for them to pick
up. I'll check the cargo and make sure it's lashed down for landing.
Captain Stefens is tough when it comes to being shipshape."
The freighter blasted evenly, smoothly onward through the darkness of
space in a straight line for the man-made satellite. Jardine got up from
the freighter's dual-control board, picked up a portable light, and
headed for the hatch leading to the cargo deck.
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