"Stop quarreling," said Anti. "I think it's nice that there are two planets, neither of which has anyone to lay prior claim to it. Which one shall we take?" "I'll take the Proxima planet," said Jordan as he went back to the scanner. "Do we have to choose now?" asked Jeriann. "We should," said Docchi. "The advantage we have is very small; we have to exploit it. Ideally we ought not to decelerate until the last minute and at the end of that period we should find ourselves in a perfect thousand mile orbit around the planet." He glanced at the model of the system they'd constructed. "Myself, I'm for the second Alpha planet." Anti snorted. "That thing? It's nothing but a hotter edition of Mars." "Mars isn't bad, Anti. People live on it. Besides, it isn't Mars. It's hotter, warmer than Earth in fact. Dry, but there are two small oceans and several mountain chains and on the shady side of the hills there seem to be trees. We can live comfortably there." "I thought of something else," said Jeriann. "They'll head straight for the planet that will support the biggest population. Let them have the prize--we don't need it." "I had that in mind," said Docchi. "It will give us more time to get safely established. Once we're on, there's nothing much they can do." The deceleration began soon and went off smoothly. In less than a subjective year since they left Earth they entered the Alpha system. But they were not the first humans to arrive. The official expedition in the Star Victory preceded them by several days. The difference was that the accidentals knew exactly where they were going and actually arrived at the planet while the other ship was still cautiously investigating the outer orbits. "It doesn't matter," said Anti as they gathered by the scanner, discussing it. "In principle we're responsible for what they've done. They can have the glory. What we came for was a place to live in peace." "And we'll get it," said Docchi. In the last few weeks his uneasiness, never very deep, had come to the surface. The knowledge of how narrow a margin they had was frightening. Outside the planet filled the dome. It was actually quite small but it was close and covered most of the sky. Now that they were near they could see that only superficially did it resemble Mars. There were mountains and several large streams and it wasn't as barren as at first they had thought. "I wish I could land, or we could go closer," said Anti. There was no answer for that. Anti's personal null gravity field would function only so long as it was in contact with the gravity computer, which in effect it was an extension of. She wasn't yet strong enough to stand on the surface of their new home. As for the other, the asteroid was quite large and it wasn't advisable to risk a nearer approach. Webber came in, grinning hugely and rattling his arm and leg more than necessary. "The first load's on. When do we peel off?"