As the only space veteran, Fred was listened to carefully. Further, as the anthropologist, he was in a position to tell them things they wanted to know. Soon after they'd come out of hyper, the group gathered in the recreation area. In the three days of the trip, they'd grown used to meeting there for discussion. And this time, they were excited about the possibility of life. "Somehow," Jo said, "I feel that _we_ are destined to do what none of the others has done." There was general concurrence. "Right!" Charlesworth interjected. Fred frowned, shook his head. "Why not? How can you know, Kirr?" Lodgesen, as usual, was his snobbish self. "Why not? You ought to know more than I about randomness and screwed-up statistics, Lodgesen." Fred was on his feet for emphasis. "Frankly, from what we've learned out here, I'd rather count on winning the sweepstakes ... without having a ticket. That's how bad the odds are." "Fred," Beth said softly, "we concede you know your business; and you were on two other expeditions that found traces of very high orders of intelligence on deserted planets. But why do you feel so strongly? I should think those traces would be encouraging." Again he shook his head. "It's not that simple. Here's the run-down: five years ago we began sending out expeditions. So did the other countries. Naturally, we tried the stars nearest us; so did they. We've very effectively covered the nearest parts of the galaxy. No life." "But evidence of it," Lodgesen objected. "Counting all extinct cultures found by the various powers, I'd guess the total is upwards of 10 or 11." Fred smiled humorously. "The total is _47_ finds; for some reason, no one is telling all. Security. Fortunately, Dr. Kousansky is a good friend of mine, and Professeur de Poitiers is a friend of his, and so on down the line. "We're guessing, of course, but it seems our little corner of the universe is deserted. A more profitable question than _where?_ is _why?_ You might also be interested in the times involved; they're lengthy enough to cause head scratching. Wendell, at London University, came up with the oldest--some 585 thousand years, based on radioactive dating, but he won't guarantee the figure any closer than +/- 50 thousand. And the French, as you know, were the first out; de Poitiers did a very thorough job on Alpha Centauri IV. Until 30 thousand years ago, give or take, she had a thriving little community. I don't think you're going to find intelligent life this close, even within 500 light years. To me, the wonder is why we're here at all when everyone else has left." There it was. He'd let them have it between the eyes, and they resented it. From that time on, he was something of a pariah. Even Jo seemed to be ignoring him. The nearer they came to planetfall, the worse it got. At least she lost that look of inner truth, but she was terribly, terribly busy. For what? Obviously, preparing for what they should find.