was lean and brown, and the grin,
spreading over it, relaxed a little from the tension that had been
present for months.

"Easy, old man," he said, clapping Ron Val on the shoulder. "There is
nothing to get so excited about."

"But a solar system--"

"We came from one."

"I know we did. But just the same, finding another will put our names in
all the books on astronomy. They aren't the commonest things in the
universe, you know. And to find one of the planets of this new system
with air and water--Jed, where there is air and water there may be
life!"

"There probably is. Life, in some form, seems to be everywhere. Remember
we found spores being kicked around by light waves in the deepest depths
of space. And Pluto, in our own system, has mosses and lichens that the
biologists insist are alive. It won't be surprising if we find life out
there." He gestured through the port at the world swimming through space
toward them.

"I mean intelligent life," Ron Val corrected.

"Don't bet on it. The old boys had the idea they would find intelligent
life on Mars, until they got there. Then they discovered that
intelligent creatures had once lived on the Red Planet. Cities, canals,
and stuff. But the people who had built the cities and canals had died
of starvation long before humans got to Mars. So it isn't a good bet
that we shall find intelligence here."

* * * * *

The astronomer's face drooped a little. But not for long. "That was true
of Mars," he said. "But it isn't necessarily true here. And even if Mars
was dead, Venus wasn't. Nor is Earth. If there is life on two of the
planets of our own solar system, there may be life on one of the planets
of Vega. Why not?" he challenged.

"Hey, wait a minute," Hargraves answered. "I'm not trying to start an
argument."

"Why not?"

"If you mean why not an argument--"

"I mean, why not life here?"

"I don't know why not," Hargraves shrugged. "For that matter, I don't
know _why_, either." He looked closely at Ron Val. "You ape! I believe
you're hoping we will find life here."

"Of course that's what I'm hoping," Ron Val answered quickly. "It would
mean a lot to find people here. We could exchange experiences, learn a
lot. I know it's probably too much to hope for." He broke off. "Jed, are
we going to land here?"

"Certainly we're going to land here!" Jed Hargraves said emphatically.
"Why in the hell do you think we've crossed thirty li