"Just above the asteroid belt near the outer edge. We’re beyond the position where the asteroid was sighted, moving along what the _Altair_ figured as its orbit. I’m not stretching space, Foster, when I tell you we’re hunting for a needle in a junk pile. This part of space is filled with more objects than you would imagine, and they all register on the rad-screens." "We’ll find it," Rip said confidently. O’Brine nodded. "Yes. But it probably will take some hunting. Meanwhile, let’s get at those cases. The supply clerk is on his way." The supply clerk arrived, issued tools to the Planeteers, then opened a plastic case attached to one of the boxes and produced lists. As the Planeteers opened and unpacked the crates, Rip and O’Brine inspected and the clerk checked the items off. The first case produced a complete chemical cutting unit with an assortment of cutting tips and adapters. Rip looked around for the gas cylinders and saw none. "Something’s wrong," he objected. "Where’s the fuel supply for the torch?" The supply clerk inspected the lists, shuffled papers, and found the answer. "The following," he read, "are to be supplied from the _Scorpius_ complement. One landing boat, large, model twenty-eight. Eight each, oxygen cutting unit gas bottles. Four each, chemical cutting unit fuel tanks." "That’s that," Rip said, relieved. Apparently he was supposed to do a lot of cutting on the asteroid, probably of the thorium itself. The hot flame of the torch could melt any known substance. The torch itself could melt in unskilled hands. The next case yielded a set of astrogation instruments carefully cradled in a soft, rubbery plastic. Rip left them in the case and put them to one side. As he did so, Sergeant-major Koa let out a whistle of surprise. "Lieutenant, look at this!" Corporal Santos exclaimed, "Well stonker me for a stupid space squid! Do they expect us to find any people on this asteroid?" The object was a portable rocket launcher designed to fire light attack rockets. It was a standard item of fighting equipment for Planeteers. "I recognize the shape of those cases over there, now," Koa said. "Ten racks of rockets for the launcher, one rack to a case." Rip scratched his head. He was as puzzled as Santos. Why supply fighting equipment for a crew on an asteroid that couldn’t possibly have any living thing on it? He left the puzzle for the future and called for more cases. The next two yielded projectile type handguns for ten men, with ammunition, and standard Planeteer space knives. The space knives had hidden blades which were driven forth violently when the operator pushed a thumb lever, releasing the gas in a cartridge contained in the handle. The blades snapped forth with enough force to break a bubble, or to cut through a space suit. They were designed for the sole purpose of space hand-to-hand combat. The Planeteers looked at each other. What were they up against, that such equipment was needed on a barren asteroid?