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Cooper, Michael D., [pseud.]

"The Runaway Asteroid"

"Not far from major travelways but so
unobtrusive you'd never notice it."
"It just hovers almost in the shadow of that large, worthless chunk
here. Should be able to see it out the window before too long."
Joe was busy threading the Vigilant Warrior through the asteroids for
the next few minutes. He kept the ship at a moderate pace and passed
easily around the slowly turning asteroids. They were all moving at
about the same speed and maneuvering was not difficult.
"Should be coming up on it about now," offered Mark.
"There it is," said Zip almost immediately. The Vigilant Warrior had
eased its way around an oblong worldlet-the "large, worthless chunk"
that Mark had just mentioned-bringing into view a crescent-shaped,
stony asteroid about a mile long. It looked almost like a fat banana
with the ends tapering into sharp points.
"Montezuma's Castle," breathed Zip. "Kind of looks like a moon for that
large asteroid."
"I think it is," answered Mark. "It rotates around the larger chunk and
the two make almost a helix pattern in their journey through the Belt.
They were probably a single asteroid at one time. One powerful impact
must have split them, but the pieces haven't drifted far apart."
"Well, let's get down there. There's no mistaking the shape of the
'Castle.


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