Her nose was red all right. But it was fading, now that the SP's warning was heeded. But there were going to be explanations--the SP commander would come jetting across in his space suit, his regulation four-man guard behind him. "Explain why you have crossed the line," he would say. _Our story will have to be good, Thing_, Kent Knight thought. Only an emergency will excuse the infraction. And it must be an honest-to-God emergency, or the _Star Climber_ becomes a satellite of some lonely star for twice our original sentence. That should stymie you, Thing. "Will they take our eyes, Kent?" Sammy asked anxiously, "and tow us to some godforsaken spot and leave us?" "I hope so, Sammy," Kent Knight breathed and the part of his mind that was his was chuckling at the Thing. _It_ chuckled, too. "An SP ship can go to Earth," it said. The bright flame of hope that had flared up in Kent Knight's heart was blown out by despair. Of course, what _would_ stay the Things from taking over the minds of the SP crew? "That is right," _It_ agreed. "Nothing can stop us. Even now the commander is coming across." * * * * * Kent Knight looked at the viewplate. A spacelock had opened, spewed forth five space-suited figures. _So many times I have done exactly what they are doing. Push the stud at your belt, feel the kick as the tiny cycs take hold and spit their energy from the jets at your back. Wonder why this exile-ship came across the line? You think: Are they waiting with guns, ready to blow us up when we step into the airlock? Or is there something terribly wrong? Has the loneliness made them mad so they risk coming back just to see Earth at closer range? Or are all of them dead?_ _I used to think all those things, Kent Knight. Remember? Then I walked away from Mary Jo, got stinking drunk, and tried to hide it when I took a ship out on patrol. So now a commander comes to find out why we have crossed the line._ _Better help out Captain Hansen now. Don't want him to start talking about how young he looks._ Kent Knight strode out of the messhall, heading for the main airlock, Sammy and his bottle tagging along behind. All around him, Knight felt the excited whisper of the Things. "I don't know what to tell them, Kent," Captain Hansen said anxiously. "I forgot all about the line. But something kept telling me, 'We're going home. We're going home ...' and I just set the course. It seemed so natural, Kent." "I know, Ike," Knight said softly. Then, as the turning levers on the inner lock moved, he added, "Here they come." The five figures, bulky in their lead and rubberoid suits, their transparent helmets almost opaque as the lights within the ship reflected from them, closed the lock behind them. Four moved silently aside, two to stand on either side of the lock, while the commander strode toward Knight and Captain Hansen.