"You heard, boys,” said John Thorn tightly. “There's just one thing to do — run the swarm."
"Let her go!” grinned Sual Av. “It takes more than a few meteors to stop the Planeteers."
"One thing sure,” said Gunner grimly. “If we do run it safely, we'll lose those cruisers. They won't dare follow."
John Thorn knew the peril into which their little ship was roaring. The chance of their winning through that vast, whirling stone-storm was less than one in two.
But the naval cruisers would not follow them in there, he was sure. And if he could run the swarm, he would be well inside the Zone and could turn and run counter-sunwise toward the asteroid Turkoon without fear of further pursuit.
"Here goes!” Sual Av breathed, as the aura-chart showed their ship approaching the edge of the great swarm.
The chart showed the two converging cruisers making a frantic effort to head them off. But it was too late. Already, in the chart, the Planeteers’ ship was entering the swarm.
Thorn looked forth tensely through the window. The aura was useless, now that they were actually in the swarm. His only chance now was in the quickness of his eyes and hands.
Space outside the window still looked empty, for the density of even the densest meteor swarm is not high. But Thorn could glimpse all around them the quick red glows, quickly fading and re-appearing, of meteors colliding and fusing.
A jagged black oblong mass turning over slowly, expanded with lightning speed in front of him. His hand smashed a starboard-tube firing key, and the little ship lurched wildly aside from the oncoming monster.
A moment later, two smaller black masses passed some distance on the right, revolving around each other. Then there was a rattle, as of hail, as tiny particles struck the ship walls.
Scree-e-e! The tiny scream of air escaping through a pierced wall reached their ears with startling suddenness.
"Hull punctured!” rasped Thorn, without turning.
"I'll get it!” panted Sual Av, grabbing up the electro-fusing kit and darting toward the tiny hole in the wall.
"Better get our space-suits on,” Thorn continued rapidly without turning his head. “We may get holed again."
Gunner Welk hastily hauled in the suits from a cabinet amidships. The Mercurian took over for a moment while Thorn struggled into the suit and glassite helmet, and then Thorn went back to his tense watch while his two comrades donned their suits.
A soundless flash of red light burgeoned on the left in space, faded, and then blazed up again and veered toward the ship as a third meteor struck the two that had just collided.
Thorn frantically swung the ship upward. The fusing, swiftly-cooling mass passed close underneath.
Another mass of bullet-like particles struck the racing ship. Air screeched out through new holes, and the airgauge on the panel started flashing a warning red light as pressure diminished. Sual Av was working hastily with the fusing kit to close the new hull-punctures.
Thorn glimpsed a peculiar gleaming meteor directly ahead, coming dead on at the ship. He had plenty of time to curve the ship aside. But as he did so—
"Above you!” yelled Gunner Welk wildly.
Thorn looked up, just glimpsed the huge, ponderous mass thundering down on the ship from above-a tiny planetoid, black and jagged and massive, spinning on its axis as it bore noiselessly down on them.
Thorn's hand on the keys blasted the ship to starboard with the speed of light. But he knew, even as he acted, that he was too late. He could not quite get clear.
There came a grinding shock, a scream of riven metal. He and Gunner Welk were thrown crazily together at a side of the control-room. His head rang inside his helmet.
He scrambled up, clutching a stanchion. There was a dead, unusual silence. He looked back into the stern of the ship, past Sual Av, who was scrambling unsteadily to their side.
"'We're wrecked!” Thorn exclaimed, his heart plummeting.
The little planetoid had crumpled up the whole stern half of the ship like cardboard. The air inside it was gone. The crumpled little craft was drifting silently in space, revolving slowly around the jagged planetoid that had been its Nemesis.
"Hell!” swore Gunner Welk, his voice coming to the other two in their helmets through the short-range audio with which all space-suits were equipped. “We were almost through, too!"
"What do we do now?” Sual Ay asked, his green eyes perplexedly staring through the glassite of his helmet.
Thorn shrugged heavily. “I don't know. I was a fool to try to run the swarm. But it looked like our best chance."
"It was,” said the big Mercurian loyally. “Even though we didn't quite make it."
"We've got to get out of here somehow to Turkoon, that pirate asteroid,” Thorn said. “We can't just cling to this wreck until the oxygen in our suit tanks gives out."
He examined the audio and other instruments. All wrecked by the shock. “I suppose we're lucky to escape with our lives. But we've merely postponed death if we can't get away from here."
Sual Av peered out through the cracked window, into the black abyss in which they were floating. The Venusian stiffened as he glimpsed something beyond the jagged, spinning planetoid about which their wreck was revolving.
"John, a ship is running up along the edge of the swarm!” he exclaimed. “I can see its lights!"
Thorn and the Mercurian leaped to the window. They stared at the little blob of light, coming slowly closer.
"If it's one of those cruisers that pursued us, we're done for,” said Gunner Welk tautly.
"It's not!” cried Thorn suddenly. “It's a pirate ship!"
CHAPTER IV
Pirate Princess
They saw the distant ship coast the edge of the vast meteor swarm for some minutes and then come to a halt in space, with a prolonged flash of its bow rocket-tubes halting it.
A moment later a cracked, shrill voice sounded from the little audiospeakers inside their helmets.
"Ahoy, Planeteers! Are any of you alive in that wreck?"
Thorn answered instantly. “We're all alive — John Thorn speaking."
"I figgered it'd take more than, a meteor-swarm to finish you three,” retorted the cracked voice, chuckling.
"Who's speaking? What ship is that?” Thorn demanded.
"Cautious, ain't ye?” said the shrill voice, with a cackle of mirth. “I don't blame you’ seeing how you boys was chased. But you needn't worry-this ain't no naval cruiser. We're Companions of Space. Want to come aboard?"
"Companions of Space? Pirates, eh?” Thorn said. “Yes, we'll come aboard."
"Figgered you would,” cackled the other. “We'll stand by, and you can come across with your impellers."
Thorn switched off his suit-audio and spoke to his two companions, clutching their arms to conduct his voice to them.
"Cut your audios and listen,” he said tautly. “These pirates may plan some kind of treachery, but I don't think so. This looks like our chance to get to their base at Turkoon. But if we get there, don't mention Erebus or the radite, whatever you do,
"We understand,” Gunner Welk muttered.
They each got a torch-like metal impeller from a locker, and then wrenched open the door amidships. Bracing his feet’ against its edge, John Thorn leaped out into the abyss.
He shot floatingly away from the wreck. As his momentum faded and he began to float back toward the wreck, Thorn switched on the impeller in his hand. The blast from it kicked his space-suited figure on through space.
Sual Av and the big Mercurian were following closely. The three progressed thus, with frequent flashes from their impellers thrusting them on toward the distant waiting pirate ship.
Bright stars gleamed like millions of watching eyes all around Thorn. He glimpsed the ominous red flash of colliding meteors, nearby. He had to turn constantly to make sure that they were moving toward the waiting craft. Soon they were very close to it, moving faster, now that its slight gravitational field drew them.