{"product_id":"2940148250005","title":"Acid Bath (Illustrated)","description":"JON KARYL was bolting in a new baffle plate on the stationary rocket engine. It was a tedious job and took all his concentration. So he wasn't paying too much attention to what was going on in other parts of the little asteroid.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe didn't see the peculiar blue space ship, its rockets throttled down, as it drifted to land only a few hundred yards away from his plastic igloo.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNor did he see the half-dozen steel-blue creatures slide out of the peculiar vessel's airlock.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was only as he crawled out of the depths of the rocket power plant that he realized something was wrong.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy then it was almost too late. The six blue figures were only fifty feet away, approaching him at a lope.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJon Karyl took one look and went bounding over the asteroid's rocky slopes in fifty-foot bounds.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen you're a Lone Watcher, and strangers catch you unawares, you don't stand still. You move fast. It's the Watcher's first rule. Stay alive. An Earthship may depend upon your life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs he fled, Jon Karyl cursed softly under his breath. The automatic alarm should have shrilled out a warning.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen he saved as much of his breath as he could as some sort of power wave tore up the rocky sward to his left. He twisted and zig-zagged in his flight, trying to get out of sight of the strangers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOnce hidden from their eyes, he could cut back and head for the underground entrance to the service station.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe glanced back finally.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTwo of the steel-blue creatures were jack-rabbiting after him, and rapidly closing the distance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJon Karyl unsheathed the stubray pistol at his side, turned the oxygen dial up for greater exertion, increased the gravity pull in his space-suit boots as he neared the ravine he'd been racing for.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe oxygen was just taking hold when he hit the lip of the ravine and began sprinting through its man-high bush-strewn course.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe power ray from behind ripped out great gobs of the sheltering bushes. But running naturally, bent close to the bottom of the ravine, Jon Karyl dodged the bare spots. The oxygen made the tremendous exertion easy for his lungs as he sped down the dim trail, hidden from the two steel-blue stalkers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe'd eluded them, temporarily at least, Jon Karyl decided when he finally edged off the dim trail and watched for movement along the route behind him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe stood up, finally, pushed aside the leafy overhang of a bush and looked for landmarks along the edge of the ravine.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe found one, a stubby bush, shaped like a Maltese cross, clinging to the lip of the ravine. The hidden entrance to the service station wasn't far off.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis pistol held ready, he moved quietly on down the ravine until the old water course made an abrupt hairpin turn.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInstead of following around the sharp bend, Jon Karyl moved straight ahead through the overhanging bushes until he came to a dense thicket. Dropping to his hands and knees he worked his way under the edge of the thicket into a hollowed-out space in the center.","brand":"Lost Leaf Publications","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47111049937136,"sku":"2940148250005","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940148250005_p0.jpg?v=1763699634","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940148250005","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}