"No," said Walt. "I used the max figure and we can assume they aren't going that fast, quite. At the end of four hours, we'll turnover and wait until they heave in sight again and then we'll do some more oscillating. We can match their velocity inside of ten hours, or Franklen will get fired."
"If I don't," promised Franklen, "I'll quit. You can't fire me!"
"We should be able to contact them by radio," said Walt.
"We are!" called the radio man. "It's Channing. He says: 'Fancy meeting you here.' Any answer?"
"Just say, 'Dr. Channing, I presume?'"
Channing's voice came out of the ship's announcer system as the radio man made the necessary connections. It said: "Right—but what kept you so long?"
"Our boss was away," replied Walt. "And we can't do a thing without him."
"Some boss. Some crew of wild men. Can't go off on a fishing trip without having my bunch chasing all over the Solar System."
"What's wrong with a little sight-seeing tour? We didn't mean any harm. And speaking of harm, how are you and the rest of that bunch getting along?"
"We're O.K. What do you plan after we finally get close enough together to throw stones across?"