Free Jeff Sutton by First on the Moon

Frochaska took over while he donned his own bulky
garment, grimacing as he pulled the heavy helmet over his shoulders. Later, in
the last moments of descent, he would snap down the face plate and pressurize
the suit Until then he wanted all the freedom the
bulky garments would allow.
    "Might as well get used to it"
Frochaska grinned. He flexed his arms experimentally.
    Larkwefl
grunted. "Wait till they're pressurized. You'll think rigor mortis has set
in."
    Crag grinned. "That's
a condition I'm opposed to."
    "Amen."
LarkweD gave a weak experimental jump and prompdy smacked his head against the
low overhead. He was smiling foolishly when Nagel snapped at him:
    "One
more of those and you'll be walking around the moon without a pressure
suit" He peevishly insisted on examining the top of the helmet for
damage.
    Crag
fervendy hoped they wouldn't need the suits for landing. Any damage that would
allow the Aztec's oxygen to escape would in itself be a death sentence, even
though death might be dragged over the long period of time it would take to die
for lack of food. An intact space cabin represented the only haven in which
they could escape from the cum bersome garments long enough to tend their biological needs.
    Imperceptibly
the sensation of weight returned, but it was not
the body weight of earth. Even on the moon's surface they would weigh but one-sixth their normal
weight.
    "Skipper, look." Prochaska's startled exclamation drew Crag's
eyes to the radarscope. Bandit had made minute cor rections in its course.
    "They're
using steering rockets," Crag mused, trying to assess its meaning.
    "Doesn't
make sense," said Prochaska. "They can't have that kind of power to spare. They'll need every bit they have for landing."
    "What's
up?" Larkwell peered over their shoulders, eyeing the radarscope. Crag bit
off an angry retort. Larkwell sensed the
rebuff and returned away. They kept their eyes glued to the scope. Bandit maneuvered to a position slighdy be hind and to one side of the silver drone. Crag looked out the side port.
Bandit was clearly visible, a monstrous cylinder boring through the void with
cold precision. There was something ominous about it. He felt the hair prickle
at the nape of his neck. Larkwell" moved alongside him.
    Bandit
made another minute correction. White vapor shot from
its tail and it began to move ahead.
    "Using
rocket power," Crag grunted. "Damn if I can figure that one out."
    "Looks crazy to me. I should think—" Prochaska's voice froze. A minute pip broke off from Bandit, boring through space toward the silver drone.
    "Warheadl" Crag
roared the word with cold
anger.
    Prochaska cursed softly.
    One
second Drone Able was there, riding serenely through space.
The next it disintegrated, blasted apart by internal explosions. Seconds later only fragments of the drone were visible.
    Prochaska stared at Crag, his face bleak. Crag's brain reeled. He mentally examined what had
happened, culling his thoughts until one cold fact remained.
    "Mistaken
identity," he said sofdy. "They thought it was the Aztec."
    "Now
what?"
    "Now
we hope they haven't any more warheads." Crag mulled the possibility.
"Considering weight factors, I'd guess they haven't. Besides, there's no
profit in wasting a warhead on a drone."
    "We
hope." Prochaska studied Bandit through the port, and licked his lips
nervously. "Think we ought to contact Alpine?"
    Crag
weighed the question. Despite- the tight beam, any communication could be a
dead giveaway. On the other hand, Bandit either had the capacity to destroy
them or it didn't If it did, well, there wasn't much
they could do about it He reached a decision and nodded to Prochaska, then
began coding his thoughts.
    He
had trouble getting through on the communicator. Finally he got a weak return
signal, then sent a brief report. Alpine acknowledged
and cut off the air.
    "What now?"
Prochaska asked, when Crag had finished.
    He
shrugged and turned to the side port without answering. Bandit loomed