Jon chimed in quickly, although he was not too sure of what he was saying. "It's just the shock, like Jak says. He'll snap out of it in a day or so." She wiped her eyes on the corner of her apron, and smiled tremulously, "Of course, Boys. I ... I guess I've just been so nervous and--and he was so much more like himself this time." "No wonder," Jon laid his hand gently on her arm. "You've been under a terrible strain, too, what with Pop sick and us boys roaming around on alien planets. But we'll be back on Two where it's more like home, and there's only a little more to be done before we can start back for Terra. Anyway, we did and are doing what had to be done to prove up Pop's claim, and we've beaten Slik Bogin, supposing he's out here trying to cheat us out of this system." The boys went into the control room. "We'll have to figure out where to lay out our townsite, and which planet is best to put it on." "I vote for Two," Jak said after only a moment's hesitation. "It seems the most homelike to me, and we can stand the climate so much better there. Won't have to work in suits all the time." "Yes, that's where I wanted it, too. This is a funny system, in a way, though--there's a much greater difference in the distances between the planets than we usually find." "Why's that?" "Ask some astronomer, not me. Has something to do with sizes and densities, I believe--but I'm not sure even of that. Maybe it's because this sun is larger and denser than the others we've studied. I know it's almost a quarter bigger than Sol." "Two's almost as far away from this sun as Terra is from Sol, didn't you say?" "Yes, Earth's average is about ninety-three million miles, while Two is about eighty-seven, which accounts for its warmth. Then, near as I can figure it out, Three is lots closer than Mars, yet Five is only a little further than Jupe, and Four is between them." "Didn't I read somewhere that Sol's Asteroid Belt is really a broken-up planet?" "Some people think so. But nobody knows for sure, yet. "All right, then, let's put our city on Two." Jak grinned. "Has the mastermind decided where to put it?" "Not the exact location." Jon flushed, but grinned back. "Colonial says it must be fairly close to good water, good soil, forests, and mineral deposits, however." He sobered and looked at his brother appealingly. "Golly, Owl, any chance of Pop getting entirely well before we have to start it, so that it wouldn't hurt him to do brainwork? I don't know very much about city planning, you know--only the specs Colonial furnished." "He could--but maybe he won't. I don't know enough to say how soon. I've been fooled before--thought it would only take a few days, when he was first hurt." "What about his being so ... so ... dreamy?"