"And don't fail this time!" warned Ryt. "If you lose Sol III as you lost Sol V, I'll see to it that you put them both back together again, piece by piece, if it takes you six eons beyond your retirement age!" * * * * * The moon, with its strange accompanying cloud, had nearly set. The blue of the eastern sky was fading into apple-green. There was a roaring swish of sound, a shattering blast of energy, a whistling sigh, then a remote whisper. The needle-like structure from the valley became a flickering pin point in the sky. The girl leaned her blonde head against the shoulder of the man beside her. "We--we are free?" Her voice was but a whisper. He adjusted the ra-vis to get a clearer view of Earth and its surrounding space. The view was but slightly distorted by the hot gases of the stern tubes. "Yes," he said, struggling to keep his nervousness from playing havoc with his vocal cords. "Free. Free from a mad world!" He squeezed her hand reassuringly, his eyes intent upon the screen. Something had gone wrong. The earth had slid to one edge of the screen. He readjusted the ra-vis. The space-cloud of black that had hovered near the moon that night had also shifted its position. It was now between the earth and the sun, and the earth seemed to be following it.... The furrow between his dark brows deepened, but he said nothing. "Just think of it!" she said, her voice a song. "Mars! And a brave new world!" He put an arm about her shoulders and took his eyes from the screen. It was absurd to think the earth was moving sunward. It was probably merely due to some space aberration.... "Yes," he said, picking up her enthusiasm. "And after that--the _stars_!"