they still won't be able to get in or damage it in any way."

"It's myself I'm thinking about. Down there, alone."

"I'll be with you. On the other side of the Earth."

"That's not very close. I'd like it better if there were someone in the
ship to bring it down in a hurry if things get rough. They don't think
much of each other. I don't imagine they'll like aliens any better."

"They may be unfriendly," Ethaniel acknowledged. Now he switched a
monitor screen until he looked at the slope of a mountain. It was
snowing and men were cutting small green trees in the snow. "I've
thought of a trick."

"If it saves my neck I'm for it."

"I don't guarantee anything," said Ethaniel. "This is what I was
thinking of: instead of hiding the ship against the sun where there's
little chance it will be seen, we'll make sure that they do see it.
Let's take it around to the night side of the planet and light it up."

"Say, pretty good," said Bal.

"They can't imagine that we'd light up an unmanned ship," said Ethaniel.
"Even if the thought should occur to them they'll have no way of
checking it. Also, they won't be eager to harm us with our ship shining
down on them."

"That's thinking," said Bal, moving to the controls. "I'll move the ship
over where they can see it best and then I'll light it up. I'll really
light it up."

"Don't spare power."

"Don't worry about that. They'll see it. Everybody on Earth will see
it." Later, with the ship in position, glowing against the darkness of
space, pulsating with light, Bal said: "You know, I feel better about
this. We may pull it off. Lighting the ship may be just the help we
need."

"It's not we who need help, but the people of Earth," said Ethaniel.
"See you in five days." With that he entered a small landing craft,
which left a faintly luminescent trail as it plunged toward Earth. As
soon as it was safe to do so, Bal left in another craft, heading for the
other side of the planet.

* * * * *

And the spaceship circled Earth, unmanned, blazing and pulsing with
light. No star in the winter skies of the planet below could equal it in
brilliancy. Once a man-made satellite came near but it was dim and was
lost sight of by the people below. During the day the ship was visible
as a bright spot of light. At evening it seemed to burn through the
sunset colors.

And the ship circled on, bright, shining, seeming to be a little piece
clipped from the c