Nick stared out at them. The whole field of stars was moving, it seemed, though, in actuality, it was the ship itself that spun on its axis, providing them with the illusion of gravity they required. It was hard for Hartnett to realize that this view was almost brand-new to human eyes, that only twenty or thirty people could ever have seen stars and the solar system from this vantage point, outside the plane of the ecliptic. There were seven persons in the _Columbia_ now, and there had been eighteen or twenty in its predecessor which had been reported lost some years before. Those two ships, the only ones in the System’s great armada to be equipped with the counter-acceleration devices that made it possible to venture out of the confines of the Solar System, were also the only ones to leave the plane of the ecliptic. “Where’s Earth?” Nick asked absently without looking up. Dorothy closed the book on a finger and leaned over the edge of the hammock to look. “It’s not in sight now,” she said. “Wait until we spin a little farther. Of course, I can’t guarantee you’ll be able to see it then, either, because the ship may hide it. But we’ll see. We’re looking out one side of the ship and Earth is directly in back of us.” He snapped off the vision and the floor returned to normal. “As soon as we get the reports from the two goops,” he mused, “we can start making definite plans for the outing.” * * * * * “We heard you,” came a voice from just outside the lounge, and, a second later, Bob Vickers appeared, climbing hand-over-hand against the slight pull of the acceleration that managed to seep through the not-quite-perfect guard of the contracels. He pulled himself into the lounge and turned back, extending a hand to Fred Marquis, who followed him in. The two glared at Nick with injured expressions. “So this,” stated Vickers sadly, “is how you refer to your loyal aides behind their backs.” He turned to Marquis: “Colleague, we may as well tear up that paper and save ourselves further humiliation.” Dorothy Gilbert closed her book with a snap. “Far be it from me to poke my pretty nose into your little brawls, but haven’t you two been rather long in getting the data?” Marquis made a sweeping bow. “Fair lady,” he replied softly, “I appeal to your innate sense of justice and fair play. Did or did not our noble captain, on two occasions, call us all away from our gruelling labor to strain our ears trying to hear an alleged distress signal?” Dorothy laughed gaily, shaking her hair away from her forehead. “Indeed, our noble captain did. Not only was your invaluable time wasted, but mine as well. I was rechecking the course and had to start from scratch after the interruption.” “My lady is as gracious as she is charming,” bowed Vickers. He faced Nick. “We will be generous, sir, and accept your apology.”