Which meant they would be within sight of Rip and the others. He knew Koa had heard the message, too. Both groups put on more speed, and reached the safety of darkness. "Get down," Rip ordered. They could still be seen, if silhouetted against the edges of sunlight. Starlight gave a little light, but it was too faint to see much. Rip’s plan was that the Connies would supply the light needed for an attack. In a few seconds, as Santos had predicted, belt light beams cut sharp paths through the darkness. Rip sized up the possibilities. There were two teams of two men each, and they were getting farther apart with each step. One team was coming almost directly toward them. The other team was slanting away from them and would soon be out of sight behind the thorium crystals in which the cave was located. Fortunately, the Connies were going away from the cave. A Connie from the near-by team swung his beam back and forth, and it cut space over their heads. Rip saw a few low pyramids of thorium a few rods away. He directed swiftly, "Dowst, take my boots. Dominico, take Dowst’s boots." He lay face down on the metal ground until he felt hands grip his boots, then he asked, "All set?" Two voices answered. "Ready." Rip put his gloves on the ground and pulled himself forward and slightly upward. Since there was very little gravity, the action both lifted and pulled him. He slid parallel to the surface and a foot above it, heading for the crystals. Once or twice he reached down and gave another push. It was like swimming, except that only the tips of his gloves touched the ground, and there was no resistance of any kind. He felt Dowst’s grip on his boots, but he couldn’t feel the weight of his men. He reached the first crystal and directed, "Get behind these rocks and stay down. Feel your way. Use me for a guide. I’ll hold on until you’re under cover." He gripped a crystal. "Come on." Dominico pulled himself along Dowst’s prone form, and then along Rip’s. When Dominico had reached the shelter of the crystals, Dowst crawled along with Rip’s body for his guide, passed over him, and reached cover. Rip followed. The belt lights of the two Connies were almost abreast of them. Far to their left, Rip saw another pair of lights. That was a pair he hadn’t seen before. "We’ll wait until they pass," he told his men. "Then we’ll get up and rush them from behind. They can’t hear us coming. Dowst, you take the near one. I’ll take the far one. Dominico, you help as needed, but concentrate on cutting off their equipment. The first thing we must do is cut their communicators. Otherwise they’ll warn the rest. Then turn off their air supplies and collapse their suits." One thing was in their favor. The space suits worn by the Connies were almost the same as theirs. The controls were of the same kind. The only way to know a Connie was by his bubble, which was a little more tubular than the round bubbles of the Federation.