I clamped on my suit helmet and spun the airlock controls. I snapped one quick look back at her. Then the airlock hatch thudded shut behind me. In a moment, I was on the surface of the Asteroid and running for the ship. IX Earth lies ahead of me, green and safe. The muted atomics behind me have brought me back from beyond Venus, where the split-second jump into hyperspace threw me. Let Mort Weidmann have his farther stars--or anyone else who cares to try. I've had all I want from the new drive. * * * * * I gave Pat a funeral pyre. And now the lonely Asteroids have a star of their own.