"Going to land her free, huh?" VanBuskirk whistled. "What a chance!"
"It'd be a bigger one to take the time to land her inert. Her power will hold—I hope. We'll inert her and match velocities with her when we come back. We'll have more time then."
The lifeboat stopped instantaneously, in a free landing, upon the uninhabited, desolate, rocky soil of the strange world. Without a word the two men leaped out, carrying fully packed knapsacks. A portable projector was then dragged out and its fierce beam directed into the base of the hill beside which they had landed. A cavern was quickly made, and while its glassy walls were still smoking-hot the lifeboat was driven within it. With their DeLameters the two wayfarers then undercut the hill, so that a great slide of soil and rock obliterated every sign of the visit. Kinnison and VanBuskirk could find their vessel again, from their accurately taken bearings; but, they hoped, no one else could.
With their DeLameters they undercut the hill—so that a great slide of soil and rock obliterated every sign of their visit.
Then, still without a word, the two adventurers flashed upward. The atmosphere of the planet, tenuous and cold though it was, nevertheless, so sorely impeded their progress, that minutes of precious time were required for the driving projectors of their suits to force them through its thin layer. Eventually, however, they were in interplanetary space and were flying at quadruple the speed of light. Then VanBuskirk spoke.
"Landing the boat, hiding it, and this trip are the danger spots. Heard anything yet?"