Toby had Lou inform the operations officer of his offer to make the flight to Luna. Then he dressed and made his way toward the inner hub of the wheel where the vast hangar was located. He walked along the narrow corridors in a jerky movement, not yet having gotten used to the artificial gravity which was created by the continual rotation of the space station. He and Lou had been on the station only a month. Many high-school students came here every summer in order to build up a flying record, thereby hastening the day when they would be full-fledged rocket pilots. As he looked for his ship, Toby saw the investigating crew still examining the big craft in which he’d had the accident. Their significant report might come at any time. Toby had the small rocket flyer, which Lou and he were renting together, towed to the air lock. Toby wished he had time to have the ship checked, but if he waited for that, they’d lose their precious time advantage. Toby waited, with pounding heart and idling rocket motors, for his passengers. Presently, through the side port of his pilot’s compartment, he could see the brisk strides of Dr. Shepard and his young daughter. A steward helped the two inside with their medical equipment, then waved a farewell to Toby. “All set, sir?” Toby called to the doctor. “Yes,” Dr. Shepard returned. Toby clamped shut the airtight door. He revved the motors to launching thrust, and their roar drowned out the quiet hissing of the oxygen out-putter. He fastened his safety belt, told the others to do so, and then was off. When the painful effects of blast-off were over and the ship was on a smooth trajectory, Toby heard a click of metallic soles along the magnetic floor and braced himself for the unpleasantness he knew was coming. When Dr. Shepard recognized him, he exclaimed angrily, “You!” “Yes, it’s I, sir,” Toby admitted. “I knew you and Deb had to get to Luna as quickly as possible.” The doctor’s lean, angular face reddened. “But you’re incompetent! I thought your license had been revoked! If you believe you’re doing something heroic, Toby, consider also that you’re risking the lives of us who could be of service to those stricken people on Luna!” He paused a moment for breath, then went on. “A person your age has no business flying rocket ships in the first place. It’s a job for older men with mature judgment!” With that, Dr. Shepard clattered back to his seat in the back, leaving Toby with a feeling of being as incompetent as the doctor had said. He stared glumly out the forward port at the wrinkled witch-face of Luna. Her gaping craters were like taunting eyes, and her jagged mountains appeared to wear the twisted grin of a mocking giant. Even nature herself seemed allied against him. Suddenly he had company again. It was Deb this time. He studied her pretty face closely, wondering if the inscrutable look on it meant that she was one of that majority of disbelievers or whether perhaps....