Mr. Fairchild still sat hunched over his radio, chain-smoking. Finally, the signal came through again, and he listened eagerly.
“Hello, F! Ship One calling F. We engaged patrol cruiser successfully. She’s disabled and plowing into the asteroid belt so fast she’ll be mashed to a pulp. That’s all, F—except that we’re rocketing for Earth now. See you soon!”
Mr. Fairchild chuckled. “I knew they could do it, and the odds against another patrol ship picking them up are tremendous. All we’ll have to do is wait.”
“You can wait,” Pete told him. “I’m getting out of here.”
“You’re what?”
what?“I said I’m getting out of here. That’s murder, what your men did to the patrol ship. I want no part of it.”
“Is that so? just how do you propose to get out of here?”
Pete shrugged. “I don’t know. But I’v
