reporting as ordered. Commander O'Brine brushed his words aside and
stated flatly, "You're a Planeteer. I don't like Planeteers."

Rip didn't know what to say, so he kept still. But sharp anger was rising
inside of him.

O'Brine went on. "Instructions say I'm to hand you your orders en route.
They don't say when. I'll decide that. Until I do decide, I have a job
for you and your men. Do you know anything about nuclear physics?"

Rip's eyes narrowed. He said cautiously, "A little, sir."

"I'll assume you know nothing. Foster, the designation SCN means Space
Cruiser, Nuclear. This ship is powered by a nuclear reactor--in other
words, an atomic pile. You've heard of one?"

Rip controlled his voice, but his red hair stood on end with anger.
O'Brine was being deliberately insulting. This was stuff any Planeteer
recruit knew. "I've heard, sir."

"Fine. It's more than I had expected. Well, Foster, a nuclear reactor
produces heat. Great heat. We use that heat to turn a chemical called
methane into its component parts. Methane is known as marsh gas, Foster.
I wouldn't expect a Planeteer to know that. It is composed of carbon and
hydrogen. When we pump it into the heat coils of the reactor, it breaks
down and creates a gas that burns and drives us through space. But that
isn't all it does."

Rip had an idea what was coming, and he didn't like it. Nor did he like
Commander O'Brine. It was not until much later that he learned that