"I don't know. Thought you did...."
"All I know is that he had some kind of scheme in mind."
"Shut up," Doc said to them. "If you're smart, you'll be strapping down before we...." He broke off in mid sentence, listening.
Quite suddenly, the Ranger ship had begun to vibrate. Somewhere, far away, there was the muffled rumble of engines.
Doc whirled to the viewscreen. Greg and Johnny looked at the same instant, and Johnny groaned.
Below them, the Scavenger's jets were flaring. First the pale starter flame, then a long stream of fire, growing longer as the engines developed thrust.
Doc slammed down a switch, roared into a speaker. "That scout ship ... stop it! He's trying to make a break!"
Two guards appeared at the lock almost instantly, but it was too late. Already she was straining at her magnetic cable moorings; then the exhaust flared, and the little scout ship leaped away from the orbit-ship, moving out at a tangent to the asteroid's orbit, picking up speed, moving faster and faster....
In toward the orbit of Mars.
The man called Doc had gone pale. Now he snapped on the speaker again. "Frank? Stand by on missile control. He's asking for it."