"That tug picked up speed before I could shut off the engines, after the cable was cut," he said. "It's moving away from us slowly, and at a tangent. And solar gravity's acting on both bodies now. By the time we get those controls repaired, the drift may be such that we'll waste weeks maneuvering the tug back." "I could jet out to the tug in a spacesuit, before it gets too far away," said T'an thoughtfully. "But that wouldn't do any good. There's no way of controlling the engines, at the tug. It has to be done by radio." "If we get out of this, remind me to recommend that atomic ships always carry a spare cable," said Jonner gloomily. "If we had one, we could splice them and hold the ship to the tug until the controls are repaired." "Is cable in cargo strong enough, Jonner?" asked Qoqol. "That's right!" exclaimed Jonner, brightening. "Most of our cargo's cable! That 4,000-ton spool we're hauling back there is 6,000 miles of cable to lay a television network between the Martian cities." "Television cable?" repeated T'an doubtfully. "Will that be strong enough?" "It's bound in flonite, that new fluorine compound. It's strong enough to tow this whole cargo at a couple of Gs. There's nothing aboard this ship that would cut off a length of it--a heat-gun at full power wouldn't even scorch it--but we can unwind enough of it, and block the spool. It'll hold the ship to the tug until the controls can be repaired, then we can reverse the tug and weld the cable." "You mean the whole 6,000 miles of it's in one piece?" demanded T'an in astonishment. "That's not so much. The cable-laying steamer _Dominia_ carried 3,000 miles in one piece to lay Atlantic cables in the early 20th century." "But how'll we ever get 4,000 tons in one piece down to Mars?" asked T'an. "No G-boat can carry that load." Jonner chuckled. "Same way they got it up from Earth to the ship," he answered. "They attached one end of it to a G-boat and sent it up to orbit, then wound it up on a fast winch. Since the G-boat will be decelerating to Mars, the unwinding will have to be slowed or the cable would tangle itself all over Syrtis." "Sounds like it's made to order," said T'an, grinning. "I'll get into my spacesuit." "You'll get to work on the radio controls," contradicted Jonner, getting up. "That's something I can't do, and I can get into a spacesuit and haul a length of cable out to the tug. Qoqol can handle the winch." * * * * * Deveet, the Atom-Star Company's representative at Mars City, and Kruger of the Space Control Commission were waiting when the _Radiant Hope_'s G-boat dropped down from the Phobos station and came to rest in a wash of jets. They rode out to the G-boat together in a Commission groundcar. Jonner emerged from the G-boat, following the handcuffed Serj. "He's all yours," Jonner told Kruger, gesturing at Serj. "You have my radio reports on the cable-cutting, and I'll make my log available to you."