Man would never be content to stay on nine insignificant globes-not when his eyes had the power to stare into a night sky and when his brain had the ability to imagine. There would have to be pioneers to seek out the unknown horror, to face it and defeat it. There would have to be signposts lining the great road and helping others to follow without fear. For all the brilliancy of their dreams, those men would be the lonely ones, the men of no return. For all the glory of their brief adventure, they would give not only their cloaks, but ultimately their lives. Ben lay trembling in the darkness. His brain cried, _You couldn't rig up a radar system or a deceleration compensator, but you could chart those asteroids. You can't bring a man named Cobb back to life, but you could help a thousand men and women to stay alive five or ten or twenty years from now._ Ben knew at last what decision Jacob would have made. The reverse of sixty-eight on a compass is two-forty-eight. * * * * * Like flashing knitting needles, strong hands moved about his face-plate, his windsuit, his helmet. Then they were wiping perspiration from his white face and placing a wet cloth on the back of his neck. "You were coming back," a voice kept saying. "You were coming back." His mouth was full of hot coffee. He became aware of a gentle face hovering above him, just as it had a seeming eternity ago. He sat up on the bed, conscious now of his surroundings. "Simon says you were coming back, Ben. _Why?_" He fought to grasp the meaning of Maggie's words. "Simon? Simon found me? He brought me back?" "Only a short way. He said you were almost here." Ben closed his eyes, reliving the whirlwind of thought that had whipped through his brain. He mumbled something about pioneers and a scrawled paper and a debt and a decision. Then he blinked and saw that he and Maggie were not alone. Simple Simon stood at the foot of his bed--and was that a trace of a smile on his reptilian mouth? And three windsuited spacemen stood behind Maggie, helmets in their hands. One was a lean-boned, reddish-skinned Martian. Simple Simon said, "Ben--changed. Thinks--like us. Good now. Like--Jacob." The little big-eared man stepped up and shook hands with Ben. "If Simon says so, that's good enough for me." A blond-haired Earthman helped Ben from the bed. "Legs okay, fellow? Think you're ready?" Ben stood erect unassisted. "Legs okay. And I'm ready." He thought for a moment. "But suppose I wasn't ready. Suppose I didn't want to go with you. I know a lot about your organization. What would you do?" The blond man shrugged untroubledly. "We wouldn't kill you, if that's what you mean. We'd probably vote on whether to take you with us anyway or let you go." His smile was frank. "I'm glad we don't have to vote." Ben nodded and turned to Maggie. "You're still coming with us?"