"Leave it on," Johnny snapped.
"But we can't move fast enough in these things...."
"Leave it on all the same. If they split the hull open, you'll be dead in ten seconds without a suit."
Somewhere below they heard the steady clang-clang-clang of the emergency-station's bell ... already one of the compartments somewhere had been breached, and was pouring its air out into the vacuum of space. "But what can we do?" Greg said. "They could tear us apart!"
"First, we see what they've already done," Johnny said, spinning the wheel on the inner lock. "If they plan to tear us apart, we're done for, but they may want to try to board us.... We'll wait and see."
An orbit-ship under fire was completely vulnerable. One well-placed shell could rip it open like a balloon.
Tom and Greg followed Johnny to where the control cabin was located. In control they found alarm lights flashing in three places on the instrument panel. Another muffled crash roared through the ship, and a new row of lights sprang on along the panel.
"How are the engines?" Greg said, staring at the flickering lights.
"Can't tell. Looks like they're firing at the main jets, but they've ripped open three storage holds, too. They're trying to disable us...."
"What about the Scavenger?"