Richard Starlight, Robert Nolan, and others had a number of technical questions for Dr. Hoshino regarding the manufacture and deployment of the probes and the time schedule necessary to achieve their goal. At the end of the discussion it was agreed that the two companies, with others, would begin to manufacture the probes according to Stephen Hoshino’s design. Launch was planned for five days later, with deployment six to seven days after that. * * * * * “O344 coming up on the screen, Zip,” announced Mark. “Not a moment too soon!” shouted Joe. “Food at last!” It had been a week since the fourteen men aboard the alien spaceship had left the pirates’ asteroid. They had been traveling under power for four days. Although they had been very sparing in their consumption of the food, they had run out two days earlier. A few ounces of water per person remained in the containers; it had been carefully measured and rationed to last the entire journey to O344. Everyone was thirsty but no one was in danger of becoming dehydrated. All, however, suffered from the pangs of hunger. Mark had a headache that blurred his vision and made his responses slow. “If it’s on the screen, we ought to touch down in a few minutes,” said Zip. He was moving slowly and often sat down with his eyes closed. Of the three Starmen, Joe seemed to be the least affected by the two days’ lack of food. The miners were lying down on their bunks. Other than Joe, only George St. George had exhibited much energy in the previous two days, coming forward to the flight deck every few hours to chat with the Starmen. Zip asked George to prepare his men for touchdown. Deceleration had been gradual, so there was no need for the men to strap into the acceleration couches. However, they would need to be in spacesuits in order to leave the ship and enter the SE facility. An asteroid about ten miles across loomed up on the screen. Joe circled it slowly. “There it is,” he said as a landing pad came into view. A small dome next to the pad was barely visible, since the landscape that had been artificially shaped was on the dark side of the asteroid, away from the sun. The site on O344 was one of dozens of such places marked on the navigational maps. They were unmanned stations stocked with supplies and maintained for explorers, scientists, and others in the employ of Starlight Enterprise. They contained large quantities of food, water, and other basic necessities, and provided rustic living facilities. It didn’t take Joe long to land the ship on the surface of the small asteroid. It settled down gently just a few yards from the dome. “I’ll need someone to go into the supply cache and get some bolts, Zip. This ship doesn’t have any to keep it fixed to the asteroid--or if it does, I haven’t found the controls for them. I’ll have to stay aboard until the ship is secure.”