They had
a job to do, and they went about it silently, efficiently, and surely.
Astro stood up, the small spade in his hand hanging loosely at his side.
He watched Roger and Alfie bring the last of the reactor units from
Major Connel's jet boat. They gently lowered it into the hole and
stepped back while Shinny, under the watchful eyes of Major Connel, set
the fuse. Shinny stepped back, and Astro began covering up the lead box.
"That's it," said Connel. "We're finished!"
What Connel meant was that they were finished with the placement of the
reactor units, but he knew immediately that his words had been taken to
mean something each felt but had not dared to put into words.
Connel started to correct this misunderstanding but caught himself in
time. It would not do, he thought, for him to make excuses for what they
knew to be the truth.
"All right, everyone in my jet boat," he snapped. "Astro, you and Roger
take all the fuel out of the other boats and pour it into mine. It'll be
a tight squeeze, but we can all fit into one craft. No use expending
fuel wastefully."
Astro and Roger bent to the task of draining the fuel from their jet
boats and loading it into Connel's.
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