They left the ship soon, Jon carrying the surveying instrument over his shoulder, and Jak the marker-pole. Arrived at the nearest corner of their townsite, Jon set the instrument down, while Jak went on to the next stake. By means of the graduated circle attached just below the telescope, and the plumb line suspended from it, Jon adjusted the collapsible legs until he felt sure it was correctly focussed. Then, as Jak went ahead from stake to stake, Jon took sights to make sure each marker was centered on his cross hairs. The ones that were not, he indicated by hand signals, and Jak reset them to left or right, until Jon was satisfied. They completed all of one side before lunch, then returned to the ship. They found their mother had opened both lockdoors while they were gone, and fresh, crisp, though warm, air was circulating through the ship, blowing out the old chemically pure yet "stale-feeling" air their purifiers had been re-circulating for so long. Their father was awake, but still so weak he was making no attempt to sit fully up in bed, although his wife had slipped an extra pillow beneath his head. "Ho, fellows!" he greeted the boys as they came into the bunkroom. "How's the job coming?" "Just fine, Pop." "We have the townsite all laid out, and now we're checking to make sure the lines are straight," Jak told him. He frowned a bit. "How did you manage it? Neither of you is a surveyor. Or have you learned how to do that, too?" "I think I've figured out the theodolite well enough to tell if our lines are straight, and that's what we're using now," Jon continued. "I can't measure distances with it, though." Jak explained more in detail how they had measured the blocks and street widths, and rechecked them all. "I can't see why it won't pass," their father said when they finished. "Probably no one will ever check it, unless they actually use the site when the colonists come. It shows we were landed here long enough to do the work, and that's the important thing. What about the rest of the mapping?" "I'll go get the papers." Jon ran out, to return in a few minutes with the book of reports, and the rolls of film and prints they had made on all the planets and satellites. "You can check these as you feel up to it, Pop, and anything that looks wrong we can go back and re-check or do over." Mr. Carver riffled quickly through the pages, and saw that each question had been answered; each measurement given an answer--though whether correct or not, of course, he could not know. All the information required had been supplied, at least. He gave the boys his old-time grin, even as he was shaking his head in wonder. "You chaps certainly have done a job. Looks like I'll have to take the backseat from now...." "_No!_" The two boys were shocked by that. "Not on your life, Pop! We maybe did fairly well, but we need you, just the same."