"... in spite of our differences. Therefore, I urgently request that you personally authorize the dispatching of qualified Russian experts to join in the scientific council now convening here to evaluate these terrifying documents. "If you desire, hostages may be exchanged to assure the safety of your personnel...." * * * * * _From the Carvel Diary._ I stood on the thin snowdrifts and looked westward, into the setting sun. The vastness of the silent desert was red with faintly visible plumes of sand that rode high on the icy air. Above me, the sky was cobalt and the stars shone bright and unwinking. The nearer moon rode low on the horizon, almost touching the tiny disk of the sun. I was alone, as I have been since leaving Earth. Nowhere on this world is there life, but here men might live and thrive, for there is beauty and peace. _Later._ I have found a rich vein of uranium ore. The ship's converter will serve to refine it. I can go on. When I return, I will build a cairn, to prove that one man, at least, was sane. _Later._ The landing was difficult, for the heat of the rocket-blast volatilized the frozen methane under me. As I let her settle, the ship dug a pit in the glacier and now she lies half buried in the yellowish ice. I slept and fed myself and put on a pressure suit. Outside, the cold and the black sky pressed in on me, making me afraid. It is never dark here, for the planet fills the sky like a bloated yellow balloon. In the far distance, I can see a fault in the glacier, and the black rock of this moonlet shows through. I think there is silver in the rock. It streaks it in a pattern of filigree. There is little here but the challenge of keeping alive. The cold depresses me and the giant in the sky fills me with vertigo. I shall go on. _Later._ A giant ahead and a giant behind. The blackness of space is all around me, and I grow used to it. I sleep and eat little now and weightlessness is beginning to sicken me. I have come a long way. The system ahead shows promise. _Later._ I landed the ship on a wide plain. Rubble is everywhere. Perhaps this was once a moraine, but even the glacier is gone now. In the light of the sun I can see a rising fault like a palisade. Some low hills and a talus flank it. Bright colors are sparkling there. I think the cliff is thick with gem deposits. _Later._ I do not like to leave this moonlet. It is small and friendly. The air is thin, but it makes the sky blue and not black and that makes me think of Earth. Perhaps I should be thinking of going back. The fuel is getting low and the air in the ship is fouling. It will take a long time to reach home. _Later._ I will go on for a little while longer. I cannot help thinking that I will be the only one of my race to ever see these worlds. It is a godlike thought, but sad. At home there is nothing but hate and thoughts of killing. A great pity. The sky could be ours, if we were united.