It was on its way to meet the other space ship.

It did. Joe saw the thread of vapor extend and grow until it was higher
than he was. He never saw the other ship, which was too small. But he
saw the burst of flame, bright as the sun itself, which was the
explosion of a proximity fuse bomb. He knew, then, that nothing but
incandescent, radioactive gas remained of the other ship and its crew.

Then he saw the trail of the second rocket. It was rising to meet him.




5


The four of them watched through the ports as the thread of vapor sped
upward. They hated the rocket and the people who had built it. Joe said
between his teeth, "We could spend our landing-rockets and make it
chase us, but it'll have fuel for that!"

The Chief muttered in Mohawk. The words sounded as if they ought to have
blue fire at their edges and smell of sulphur. Mike the midget said
crackling things in his small voice. Haney stared, his eyes burning.

Their ship was a little over 400 miles up, now. The rocket was 100 or
better. The rendezvous would be probably 200 miles ahead and
correspondingly higher. The rocket was accelerating furiously. It had
farther to travel, but its rate of climb was already enormous and it