"Leave it in the lock, though," he added. "Then, in the morning, maybe I'll feel like helping Jon study and experiment with it."
The two boys ran to get into their suits, and soon were outside, carrying their lead-lined box. They jumped into the large cache box after lifting off the lid, and took the top from the inner one. They set the carrier beside it, then ran back to the ship. With the "distant hands," Jon flipped a nugget into the small box, and set it aside on the sand. Using the same servo-mechanism, he closed both covers. Then he brought the little box back and deposited it on the floor of the lock.
The two boys took off their suits and hung them in the wall closet, then went into the control room.
"You were right, Pop. We sure couldn't have handled the big box at all." Jon grinned, still panting. "Even the little one is really heavy with just one nugget in it."
His father grinned back. "I had an idea, but thought I'd let you learn the hard way. Now maybe you'll remember it longer."
"Anyway, we got it in the lock, and tomorrow, if you feel up to it, we can start experimenting."
"Just how big are the pellets?"
"A little over half the size of our treated-copper ones," Jon told him.
"We'll have to cut it before we try working with it."
Jak, having disposed of the used plastic from their suits, had come into the control room and was listening interestedly, as was their mother, who was hovering near, not quite sure she liked the idea of her menfolks fussing with this unknown but admittedly dangerous metal.