Rip centered the top of the instrument’s vertical hair line on Alpha Centauri, then waited until Koa was almost out of sight over the asteroid’s horizon, which was only a few hundred yards away. He turned up the volume on his helmet communicator. "Koa, move about ten feet to your left." Koa did so. Rip sighted past the vertical hairline at the belt light. "That’s a little too far. Take a small step to the right. Good ... just a few inches more ... hold it. You’re right in position. Stand where you are." "Yessir." Rip turned to Santos. "Stand here, Corporal. Take a sight at Koa through the instrument to get your bearings, then hold position." Santos did so. Now the two lights gave Rip one of the lines he needed. He called for two more men, and Trudeau and Nunez joined him. "Follow me," he directed. Rip picked up the instrument and carried it to a point 90 degrees from the line represented by Koa and Santos. He put the instrument down and zeroed it on Messier 44, the Beehive star cluster in the constellation Cancer. For the second sighting star he chose Beta Pyxis as being closest to the line he wanted, made the slight adjustments necessary to set the line of sight since Pyxis wasn’t exactly on it, then directed Trudeau into position as he had Koa. Nunez took position behind the instrument and Rip had the cross-fix he wanted. He called for Dowst, then carried the instrument to the center of the cross formed by the four men. Using the instrument, he rechecked the lines from the center out. They were within a hair or two of being exactly on, and a slight error wouldn’t hurt anyway. He knew he would have to correct with rocket blasts once the asteroid was in the new orbit. "X marks the spot," he told Dowst. He put his toe on the place where the cross lines met. Dowst took a spike from his belt and made an X in the metal ground. "All set," Rip announced. "You four men can move now. Let’s have the cutting equipment over here, Koa." The Planeteers were all waiting for instructions now. In a few moments the equipment was ready, fuel and oxygen bottles attached. "Who’s the champion torchman?" Rip asked. Koa replied, "Kemp is, sir." Kemp, one of the two American privates, took the torch and waited for orders. "We need a hole six feet across and twenty feet deep," Rip told him. "Go to it." "How about direction, sir?" Kemp asked. "Straight down. We’ll take a bearing on an overhead star when you’re in a few feet." Dowst inscribed a circle around the X he had made and stood back. Kemp pushed the striker button and the torch flared. "Watch your eyes," he warned. The Planeteers reached for belt controls and turned the rheostats that darkened the clear bubbles electronically. Kemp adjusted his flame until it was blue-white, a knife of fire brighter by far than the sun.