But Rip knew it wasn’t good, either. A cut with a space knife let air out of the suit and created at least a partial vacuum. If it also cut flesh, the vacuum let the blood pressure force out blood and tissue to turn a minor wound into an ugly one. They would have to bring this spaceflap with the Connies to a quick end, Rip thought. He had to get his men into air, somehow, to take a look at their wounds. Bradshaw needed attention, and now so did Dominico. Dowst reached up, took Rip’s ankle, and pulled him down. Rip held onto his captive. Then the private bound the Connie’s hands, jerked his communicator control completely off, and turned his air back on. Since Rip had been unable to collapse the suit, the Connie was comfortable enough. The reason for collapsing the suit was to deprive the enemy of air instantly, so that he could be tied up while helpless from lack of oxygen. There was enough air in the suit to last for a few minutes. The Connie on the ground was neatly trussed. Rip’s prisoner joined him. Dowst switched off his belt light. "Now what, sir?" Dominico was standing patiently near by. He said nothing. Rip knew that no more could be done for the Italian at present. "Go back to the cave, Dominico," he ordered. "I can stay with you, sir." "No, Dominico. Thanks for the offer, but we’ll get along. Go back to the cave." "Yessir." Rip was a little worried. He had heard nothing from Koa since that first exchange. He told Dowst as much. Koa himself heard and answered. "Lieutenant, we’re all right. Got two Connies, and I don’t think they had a chance to yell. But I’m sorry about one, sir. Kemp had to swing at him and busted his bubble." "Fatal?" "No, we got a patch on in time. But worse than Bradshaw." "Tough." Rip couldn’t feel too sympathetic. After all, it was the Connie cruiser’s fault Bradshaw had felt high vack. "All right. We have four. That leaves nine." Santos came on the circuit. "Sir, this is Santos. Only three men are at the snapper-boats. If you can get here without being seen, maybe we could knock them off. The rest wouldn’t be much good if we had their boats." "You’re right, Santos," Rip replied instantly. Why hadn’t he seen that for himself? He knew how he and Dowst could approach the craters without being spotted, now that they had removed two teams of Connies. "We’re on our way. Koa, make it if you can." "Yes, sir." Dominico was already making his way back to the cave. Rip and Dowst started for the horizon at a good walk, not afraid now to use their lights, at least for a few yards. If any of the remaining Connie search teams saw the lights they would think it was two of their own men. Rip remembered the lay of the ground, and Santos’s description of the snapper-boats’ position. He circled almost to the horizon, then told Dowst to cut his light. He cut his own. In a moment they topped the horizon, and standing with only helmets visible from the snapper-boats, looked the situation over.