Alsint went out into the ship. There was a lot of activity, but much of it was invisible, electronic in nature, affecting only instruments. The ship had slipped into an orbit, the plane of which intersected the axis of planetary revolution at the most effective angle. The ship went around twice while the planet revolved three times. In that period the mineral resources were plotted and the approximate quantities of each were determined. Larienne looked up as he came near. "This is a real find," she said cheerfully. "I suppose you've located the heavy stuff," he said, knowing that it was a superfluous statement. "What else would we look for?" She bent over the small torpedo shape she was working on. "Not just one, either. This is the second planet in the system with enough heavy elements to be worth settling." "What's the gravity?" He didn't always share the enthusiasm others had for their discoveries. "The first was 1.6. This is about 2.3. A little high for personal comfort, but with the mineral resources there, the settlers can manage." "What about atmosphere?" "The first hasn't much, frozen mostly. This one has chlorine in it." She grinned at him. "Your old theme, huh?" It was an old theme, though he didn't argue it. He was entitled to personal reactions. "Maybe. Would you like to live on either of them?" "Don't have to," she said, making an adjustment on the torpedo. "Never get out on a planet more than twice a year. In fact, I've almost forgotten what a year means." That was the point, possibly, though there was no use to discuss it. "Anything else of interest?" "We're coming to a smaller planet. Land, oceans, warm enough, and with an atmosphere we can probably breathe as is. Don't know the composition of the solid matter yet, but from our mass reading, it's a good bet that there won't be enough heavy stuff to justify settlement." She made a final delicate adjustment on the torpedo and began wheeling it to a launching tube. "This one's in a rich system, though, and will probably be used as an administration planet--vacation spot too. It won't go to waste, if that is what's worrying you." In a way, it was. It was too bad that so many planets that were otherwise ideal for human habitation had to be passed over because they lacked the one essential. There was no help for it, of course. To settle planets, spaceships were necessary--and heavy elements to drive those ships. Nothing else mattered in the least. * * * * * Larienne snapped the torpedo in place and pressed a stud. The dark shape disappeared. Out in space, it fell into an orbit which eventually would land it safely on the planet. "There," she said with quiet satisfaction. "It's tagged, and it will stay tagged until somebody digs it up."