It was Dowst who caught his meaning first. "You mean as hostages, sir?"
"That's it. If we could capture them, the Connie cruiser would be helpless. We could use the snapper-boat radios to warn the ship that any false move would mean harm to their men."
Koa shook his head doubtfully. "I'm not sure the Connies worry about their men, but it's worth the try. We can capture some of them if they split up to search the asteroid. But we won't be able to sneak up on them all."
"We have an advantage," Rip reminded them. "We've been on the asteroid longer. We know our way around, and we're used to space-walking. They've just come out of deceleration and they won't have their space-legs yet."
Santos reported. "They're breaking up into groups of two. Three are guarding the snapper-boats. One is the man with the chattergun."
"Are their belt lights on?"
"Yes."
"Then keep out of the beams. Don't let them walk into you. Keep low, and keep moving. Stay over on the dark side."
"We'd better get to the dark side ourselves," Koa warned.
He was right, Rip knew. The Connies didn't have far to search before reaching the sun side. "Koa, you[pg 121] take Trudeau and Kemp. I'll take Dowst and Dominico. Nunez and Bradshaw stay here to guard the cave. If they arrive in twos, let them get into the cave before you jump them. Bradshaw, how do you feel?"