Dave spent his time at the compact reflector, peering into his frequently changed eyepieces and setting up one photograph after another. The instrument was his own design, with a revolving optical flat tempered for space temperature that could be suspended out from the ship and rotated, effecting nearly a 270-degree field for the telescope. "Take a look," Dave said. At the time, he thought there had been a slight edge to the astrogator's voice. "Don't tell me you brought me up here again to admire colors in another variable," he had grumbled. "You won't admire this a bit," Dave replied. "Where're we looking?" he asked, slipping into the seat behind the eyepiece assembly. "Space," Dave murmured. He was sighting in the finder and made azimuth adjustments. When the field slid to rest Hiller viewed once more the gripping vastness of black wantonly perforated with intensely glaring stars. It was impossible to study the closer ones; their brightness and energy coursed pain along his optic nerve. Rather, he let his gaze wander over the distant sprinkling of light that marked milestones toward infinity. "Notice that hazy part in the upper field," Dave was saying. He found it, a faint stellar gauze wisping before the stars. It appeared to be moving. But that kind of rapid movement was out of the question; it would have to be too close. "Now, I'm tripling the power," the astrogator informed him. With the new eyepiece in place Hiller noted that the haze had condensed into fine dust, each particle of which contrasted dimly against space compared to the stars over which it was super-imposed. And it _did_ move! Part of it already was creeping into the invisible curve of the eyepiece rim. He pulled back from the telescope to look at Dave's grim features. The quickening in his stomach meant anxiety, he recognized it easily. Anxiety over what? How could he have known then what it meant? Subawarely, he must have. "What the hell is it, Dave?" Hollender handed him photographs out of a transparent file cabinet. "Here're some blowups under high power. Visible proof from these, but nothing highly accurate from the spectography." "But this is asteroid stuff," Hiller nodded at the photographs. "They look like pinhead star clusters." "That's what they are, clusters," Dave replied seriously. "Fragments of planetoids, evidently, revolving around common centers of gravity." "What're they doing around here? I mean, are they strays from the Asteroid Belt or something?" * * * * * Dave swept the back of his hand over a row of astronomical texts. "If you can find any mention of 'em in there, I wish you'd let me know. And they're a long way from the Asteroids." "Well, you're the damn astronomer in this blowout," frowned Hiller impatiently. "What's a good guess on 'em?" "I don't know how good it is, but my guess is we're running into an inner Asteroid Belt. I'll bet the first two flights ended here...." "A _what_?"