The damned place was under-manned. Always had been. Nobody wanted to come except the mildly psychotic, the inefficient and lazy, or, conceivably, an ambitious young doctor like himself. Mentally, Cameron berated the last category. If anything serious happened here, such a doctor might end his career bandaging scratches at a children's playground. "Instructions," he said. "Yes. Leave word in gravity-generating for Vogel. Tell him to throw everything he's got around the units. Watch them." "Is that all?" "Not quite. Send six general purpose robots. I'll pick them up at the entrance to the rocket dome." "Repair robots are already in that area. Will they do as well?" "They will not. I want geepees for another reason." They wouldn't be much help, true, but the best he could manage. * * * * * Docchi waited near the rocket dome. Not hiding, merely inconspicuous among the carefully nurtured shrubbery that was supposed to give the illusion of Earth. If the plants failed in that respect, at least they contributed to the oxygen supply of the asteroid. "Good girl," said Docchi. "That Nona is wonderful." Jordan could feel him relax. "A regular mechanical marvel," he agreed. "But we can gas about that later. Let's get going." Docchi glanced around and then walked boldly into the passageway that connected the main dome with the much smaller, adjacent rocket dome. Normally, it was never dark in the inhabited parts of the asteroid; a modulated twilight was considered more conducive to the slumber of the handicapped. But it wasn't twilight as they neared the rocket dome--it was a full-scale rehearsal for the darkness of interplanetary space. Docchi stopped before the emergency airlock which loomed solidly in front of them. "I hope Nona was able to cut this out of the circuit," he said anxiously. "She understood, didn't she?" asked Jordan. He reached out and the great slab moved easily aside in its grooves. "The trouble with you is that you lack confidence." Docchi, listening with a frown, didn't answer. "Okay, I hear it, too," whispered Jordan. "We'd better get well inside before he reaches us." Docchi walked rapidly into the darkness of the rocket dome. He allowed his face to become faintly luminescent, the one part of his altered metabolism that he had learned to control, when he wasn't under emotional strain. He was nervous now, but his control had to be right. Enough light so that he'd be noticed, not so much that details of his appearance would be plain. The footsteps came nearer, accompanied by a steady volume of profanity. Docchi flashed his face once and then lowered the intensity almost immediately. The footsteps stopped. "Docchi?" "No. Just a lonely little light bulb out for an evening stroll." The rocket pilot's laughter wasn't altogether friendly. "I know it's you. I meant, what are you doing here?"