1996 AHSME Problem 18

A circle of radius 2 has center at (2,0). A circle of radius 1 has center at (5,0). A line is tangent to the two circles at points in the first quadrant. Which of the following is closest to the y-intercept of the line?

\text{(A)}\ \sqrt{2}/4\qquad\text{(B)}\ 8/3\qquad\text{(C)}\ 1+\sqrt 3\qquad\text{(D)}\ 2\sqrt 2\qquad\text{(E)}\ 3

Full credit goes to MAA for authoring these problems. These problems were taken on the AOPS website.