sphere simply by leaving the inner door of the airlock open!

His laugh was full and genuine now as he pulled the outer door closed.

"Having fun, Kraag?" asked Jonner in his earphones.

"Just looking forward to a good night's sleep, for a change," retorted Kraag triumphantly. "Prowl around all you want to, Jonner. I can wait you out, now."

"The airlock, eh? I wondered when your guilty conscience would settle down and let you remember about that airlock," said Jonner phlegmatically. "You know, Kraag, I had no idea you wouldn't think about a simple thing like that, till I looked through the airlock port last night and saw you huddled up there with a heat-gun. You should have turned out the light."

Jonner was silent for a few minutes. Then he added:

"I don't think I'd laugh yet, though, Kraag. Remember, you're fighting with my weapons."

Kraag wasn't sure what he meant by that: whether he was talking about Kraag's using the projectile pistol or the fact that they were in space, Jonner's natural element. Kraag himself had been in space 10 years, most of it with Jonner, but before then he had never left Earth. Jonner had been born and raised on Mars, where a man needed a suit to go to the next settlement, and he had been on a ship since he was 15.

As for using the pistol, Kraag could see danger for no one but Jonner. He had proved, twice, that he could fire it. He was quite sure the old-fashioned weapon was no more likely to explode than a heat-gun. The only trouble he foresaw was figuring how to reload it if he used up all its projectiles before hitting Jonner.

Kraag shrugged and removed his suit. He was hungry, and he was looking forward to a supper better than Jonner had available in the concentrated supplies in his spacesuit. Jonner's food and water by now had dwindled to less than 60 hours' supply, unless he was weakening himself by going on slim rations.

As he wolfed down his supper, Kraag took stock of his situation. He could see no flaw in his position. All he had to do was sit back and wait.

He decided not to destroy the tanks that were Jonner's supply of extra oxygen. After all, Jonner could not last beyond his food and water supply. The presence of the oxygen made his case airtight. He could dispose of the bodies of Stein and Jonner 

 Prev. P 12/23 next