all of that?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

"You'll get written copies on the cruiser. Now flame out of here. Collect
your men and get aboard. The _Scorpius_ leaves in five minutes."

Rip ran. The realization hit him that the big nuclear cruiser had stopped
at the platform for the sole purpose of collecting him and nine enlisted
Planeteers.

The low gravity helped him cover the hundred yards to the personnel
office in five leaps. He swung to a stop by grabbing the push bar of the
office door. He yelled at the enlisted spaceman on duty. "Where do I find
nine men?"

The spaceman looked at him vacantly. "What for? You got a requisition,
Lieutenant?"

"Never mind requisitions," Rip snapped. "I've got to find nine Planeteers
and get them on the _Scorpius_ before it flames off."

The spaceman's face cleared. "Oh. You mean Koa's detachment. They left a
few minutes ago."

"Where. Where did they go?"

The spaceman shrugged. The doings of Planeteers were no concern of his.
His shrug said so.