"Exactly two hours, sir," he said.
"Not much," said Connel, "but enough. It shouldn't take more than an
hour and a half to set up the units and get back to the ship to blast
off. All clear? Any questions?"
There were no questions.
"All right," said the officer, "put on your space gear and move out!"
Handling the lead-encased charges carefully, the six spacemen loaded the
jet boats and, one by one, blasted off from the _Polaris_ to positions
marked on the map.
Working rapidly, each of the teams of two moved from one position to
another on the surface of the desolate satellite. Connel, referring
constantly to his watch, counted the minutes as one by one the teams
reported the installation of a reactor unit.
"This is Shinny. Just finished installing reaction charge one at point
seven ..."
"This is Manning. Just finished installing reaction charge at point four
..."
One after the other, the teams reported. Connel, with Tom piloting the
jet boat, finished setting up their units at points one, two, and three
and headed back to the _Polaris_.
"How much time, sir?" asked Tom as he slowed the small craft for a
landing.
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