We
came down here to do a job and we're going to do it! Get moving! We
still have to set up the rest of these reactor units."
Without a word, the five men returned to their small ships and followed
their commanding officer.
The sun grew larger and the heat more intense with each minute, since
each minute brought them almost thirteen hundred miles closer to the
sun's blazing surface. With the humidity-control and air-cooling
mechanisms in the space suits working at top capacity but affording
little relief, Alfie, Roger, Shinny, and Astro buried the fourth reactor
unit and headed for the fifth and last emplacement. Occasionally one of
them would turn and cast a swift glance at the clear blue space
overhead, secretly hoping to find the rocket cruiser had returned. Or,
they would strain their ears for Tom's voice counting off the minutes so
carefully for them. But they saw nothing and they heard nothing. They
concentrated on their jobs, working like demons to complete the
installations as planned. They could not stop now and wonder what had
happened to the _Polaris_, or even hope for its speedy return.
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