"This is a squadron-commander's gig, at the very least," chuckled Bull Mike Tishinev, former star athlete of his university, as he squared his colossal shoulders. "We'll never have a softer trip, nor a freer one, so long as we're in the service."
"And, inasmuch as we are in the service, we're apt to catch it for absence without leave, and also for using property of the Terrestrial government for private purposes," suggested Neil Andresson, slim and handsome.
"I wouldn't have suggested it if I had thought there would be danger," assured Sukune, the little Japanese, his young Oriental face shining with a smile. "However, I had free run of the rocketport for my experimentation, and nobody thought anything of it when I checked the ship out. And we have all had two days' liberty and won't be missed. They won't check the rocketport until the day after tomorrow, so we'll have full forty-eight hours in space—first chance we've had to do such a thing without some officer on our necks, directing every move of our fingers."
Into the stratosphere, with the speed steadily and carefully increasing, the ship made its way. The broad Mississippi lay across the terrain beneath them, shrunk to the apparent dimensions of a silver thread. St. Louis was now only a vari-colored, light-flecked blotch lying across the river's course, with the smaller dark areas of suburbs close at hand.
"What a lot of Martian culture could be spread by dropping two or three roving bombs down there!" observed Sukune.
"Where is Mars from here?" asked Neil. The Japanese spun the dial of the television, showing an orange disk blotched with gray-green.
"There you are—seat of Earth's troubles," he said.
"What's that lump traveling along between us and Mars?" was Bull Mike's question.
"That appears to be the asteroid that strayed from its path, the astronomers say," replied Sukune. "It's not more than a mile or so in diameter, and its distance has been computed to be about a hundred and twelve million miles from the sun. That puts it nearly twenty million miles beyond the Earth's orbit, or half-way between us and Mars. However, science doesn't know much more about the thing. It's a bit too far away for exploration just now, especially since all ships are now built for war-service. It ought to come into opposition with us in the spring of 2676."