"It's going to hit!" Alpha cried, leaping back.
The edge of the huge metal mouth struck the corner of the control tower, shaking the entire building and sending an avalanche of concrete down from the facade. Alpha was struck by pieces of the debris as he bounded away from the door of the building. The debris piled into the doorway, jamming it. Beta's head rose over the pile.
"Beat it!" he screamed, "I'll never get past that Digger!"
Alpha ran towards the ship and climbed into it. Crazy thoughts ran through his head as he squeezed himself into the seat. It was a one to one bet. A fifty-fifty chance. Better than some odds he had had. It was a decent gamble, but the stakes....
He sealed the door and Miss Kanton sent the rocket spiraling up into the clear sky. She drew out of the range of the imminent explosion and circled the little asteroid, waiting.
Inside the control tower, Beta brushed the dust of the wreckage from him and hurried down the corridor, pulling the girl-dupe by the arm.
"What are you doing? What if you're the real one? Oh, Doyle...." she moaned irrationally.
Beta went back to the engine room. He waded through the fuel with the girl-dupe behind him.
"We have another bet, just in case," Beta said. "Those hoses...." He pointed at the wall above the humming engines.