n regulations. He wanted to
keep the errors of personnel under his command--and his own--in the
family. He figured, after the situation was resolved, that he could make
cover entries and nobody's slate would be soiled.

* * * * *

The camp was at the edge of a plain marked "Hesitation" on the chart.

I plucked a scrap of verse out of my mind:

_On the Plains of Hesitation
Bleach the bones of countless millions
Who, when victory was dawning
Sat down to rest
And resting, died._

I wondered how prophetic that was going to be.

I grounded within yards of the other three shuttlers. They were parked
neatly parallel. Their orderliness made my scalp prickle, and I was
sweating long before I got into the bug suit, squeezed out of the tiny
lock, and set foot on Epsilon-Terra.

The sky was blue, naked except for a tracing of tenuous clouds.

I could see neither of the star ships.

I wonder if you can imagine how it feels to be on a planet so far away
from the Solar System that the term "trillions of miles" is totally
inadequate? If you can grasp even a bit of it, then add the complication
of a small but insistent voice inside your head that keeps telling you
that no matter where or how far you go, you're not--

Let's just say it gives your sweat an odor and your mouth a taste and
makes you want to look over your shoulder all the time.

I walked the hundred yards to the white plastidome, avoiding the few
bulbous plants and tussocks of short yellow grass that dotted the dry
plain.

Through the aud cells of the suit's hood, I could hear the light buzzing
of insects that served only to heighten the overbearing quiet of the
area.

The port was closed. Inside, everything was correct, except for the
little dirt brought in on boot soles during erection and subsequent
goings and comings.

There was a packet of nutratabs, lying open on an empty crate that had
been pressed into service as a table. Some one had fortified himself
before trekking off into the nearby bush. There was much equipment still
sealed in cartons. Bunks were made up. Tucked under the blanket of one
was a little book with stylus attached. All pages were blank except the
first. The entry read: "TC in a sweat to get going. Rain potential. No
rest for the weary. This seems to be a nice spot though. Am kind of
eager myself to take a look at some of the vegetation hereabouts. Have
several ideas along the li