A helluva lot of good that does, Crag thought. What next? Another set of pilots, more indoctrination, new rockets, another zero hour. Gotch would win the moon if he had to use the whole Air Force. He said, "Well, it's been a nice trip, so far." "Get Prochaska on the scope." "He's on and ... hold it." The Chief was making motions toward the scope. "No, it's the satelloid. He's--" Gotch broke in with more data. Then it was there. "He's got it," Crag announced. Gotch was silent. He watched the analog. All three pips were visible. The satelloid was still above them, rushing in, fast. The interceptor was lower to the northwest, cutting into their path. He thought it was the Drone Able story all over again. Only this time it wasn't a supply rocket. It was a warhead, a situation they couldn't control. _Couldn't control? Or could they?_ He debated the question, then quickly briefed Prochaska and cut him in on the com circuit. "We can use Drone Able as an intercept," he told Gotch. "No!" The word came explosively. Crag snapped, "Drone Able won't be a damn bit of good without the Aztec." "No, this is ground control, Commander." Gotch abruptly cut off. Crag cursed. "Calling Step One.... Calling Step One. S-two calling Step One. Are you receiving? Over." The voice came faint over the communicator, rising and falling. "Step One," Crag said, adjusting his lip mike. He acknowledged the code call while his mind registered the fact it wasn't Alpine Base. There was a burst of static. He waited a moment, puzzled. "S-two calling...." Pickering! He had been slow in recognizing the satelloid's code call. The voice faded--was lost. His thought raced. Pickering was up there in the satelloid moving higher, faster than the Aztec, hurtling along the rim of space in a great circle around the earth. The stubby-winged rocket ship was a minute particle in infinity, yet it represented a part in the great adventure. It was the hand of Michael Gotch reaching toward them. For the instant, the knowledge gave him a ray of hope--hope as quickly dashed. The S-two was just a high-speed observation and relay platform; a manned vehicle traveling the communication orbit established by the Army's earlier Explorer missiles. He turned back to Prochaska and sketched in his plan of using Drone Able as an intercept. "Could be." The Chief bit his lip reflectively. "We could control her through her steering rockets, but we'd have to be plenty sharp. We'd only get one crack." "Chances are the intercept is working on a proximity fuse," Crag reasoned. "All we'd have to do is work the drone into its flight path. We could use our own steering rockets to give us a bigger margin of safety." "What would the loss of Able mean?" Crag shrugged. "I'm more concerned with what the loss of the Aztec would mean." "Might work." The Chief looked sharply at him. "What does Alpine say?"