Campbell got up. He was sweating and as edgy as a tomcat on the prowl. With great care he buckled his heavy g*n around his narrow hips. Then he went into the airlock.
He checked grapples and flanges with inordinate thoroughness. The hatch-wheel jutted inside. He picked up a spanner and turned it, not touching the frigid metal.
There was a crude barrel-lock beyond. Campbell ran his tongue once over dry lips, shrugged, and climbed in.
He got through into a space that was black as the Coalsack. The air was thin and bitingly cold. Campbell shivered in his silk shirt. He laid his hand on his g*n butt and took two cautious steps away from the bulge of the lock, wishing to hell he were some place else.
Cold green light exploded out of nowhere behind him. He half turned, his g*n blurring into
