"After them!” he shouted. “Now's our chance!"
More than sixty pirate ships had survived that terrific battle above the moon. They raced after the Venture, toward Copernicus.
Thorn glimpsed the League cruisers landing in the great crater, their crews pouring forth in space-suits, retreating across the crater to where a great glassite window glistened in its floor.
Down into the crater swept the Companions’ ships, landing near the deserted League cruisers. The Planeteers and old Stilicho and Lana raced down to the door of their ship, the excited pirate crew gathering to follow them out. “Lana, you can't go with us!” Thorn cried.
The girl's eyes flashed inside her glassite helmet.
"I go!” she flared. “I've led the Companions to battle before, and I'm leading them now!"
The door opened, and they poured out onto the surface of the moon, onto the floor of the giant crater. Out of all the other ships, the space-suited pirates were pouring in hundreds.
"Follow, men!” Lana's voice rang from her suit-audio. “See, they run before us!"
The League sailors were retreating still toward that big glassite window set in the floor of the crater. They were firing back at the pirates with their atom-guns as they retreated.
The Planeteers and Lana and Stilicho led the pirate rush forward. And beside the girl bounded the blazing-eyed space dog. Ool was in his native element upon the airless surface of the moon!