suit drifted into a low-level orbit
around the second planet from the sun of its choice, and drifted there
a long time. A strato-cruiser detected it by chance because of the
strong concentration of radio-activity that came from it.

They took the body down to one of the small, quiet towns on the edge
of one of the many blue lakes where the domed houses were like bright
joyful jewels. They got the leathery, well-preserved body from the
pressure suit.

"An old man," one of them mused. "A very old man. From one of the lost
sectors. I wonder how and why he came so very far from his home?"

"Wrecked a ship out there, probably," one of the others said. "But he
managed to get this far. It looks as though a small meteor fragment
pierced his body. Here. You see?"

"Yes," another of them said. "But what amazes me is that this old man
picked this planet out of all the others. The only one in this entire
sector that would sustain life."

"Maybe he was just a very lucky old man. Yes ... a man who attains
such an age was usually lucky. Or at least that is what they say about
the lost sectors."

"Maybe he knew the way here. Maybe he was here before--sometime."

The other shook his head. "I don't think so. They say some humans from
that far sector did land here--but that's probably only a myth. And if
they did, it was well over a thousand years ago."

Another said. "He has a fine face, this old man. A noble face. Whoever
he is ... wherever he came from, he died bravely and he knew the way,
though he never reached this haven of the lost alive."

"Nor is it irony that he reached here dead," said the Lake Chieftain.
He had been listening and he stepped forward and raised his arm. "He
was old. It is obvious that he fought bravely, that he had great
courage, and that he knew the way. He will be given a burial suitable
to his stature, and he will rest here among the brave.

"Let the women dance and the music play for this old man. Let the
trumpets speak, and the rockets fly up. And let flowers be strewn over
the path above which the women will carry him to rest."

* * * * *

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