was three weeks away, Sirius a
month and a half. Even Bellatrix was just a few years' journey distant.
Of course, when the crew returned to Earth they found things completely
changed; years had passed on Earth, and life had moved on.

Now the _Valhalla_ was back on Earth again for a short stay. On Earth,
starmen congregated at the Enclaves, the cities-within-cities that grew
up at each spaceport. There, starmen mingled in a society of their own,
without attempting to enter the confusing world outside.

Sometimes a Spacer broke away. His ship left him behind, and he became
an Earther. Steve Donnell had done that.

_The Fitzgerald Contraction does funny things._ Alan thought of the
brother he had last seen just a few weeks ago, young, smiling, his own
identical twin--and wondered what the nine extra years had done to him.

_Chapter Two_

Alan dumped his breakfast dishes into the hopper and walked briskly out
of the mess hall. His destination was the Central Control Room, that
long and broad chamber that was the nerve-center of the ship's
activities just as the Common Recreation Room was the center of off-duty
socializing for the Crew.

He found the big board where the assignments for the day were chalked,
and searched down the long lists for his own name.

"You're working with me today, Alan," a quiet voice said.

He turned at the sound of the voice and saw the short, wiry figure of
Dan Kelleher, the cargo chief. He frowned. "I guess we'll be crating
from now till tonight without a stop," he said unhappily.

Kelleher shook his head. "Wrong. There's really not very much work. But
it's going to be cold going. All those chunks of dinosaur meat in the
preserving hold are going to get packed up. It won't be fun."

Alan agreed.

He scanned the board, looking down the rows for the list of cargo crew.
Sure enough, there was his name: _Donnell, Alan_, chalked in under the
big double C. As an Unspecialized Crewman he was shifted from post to
post, filling in wherever he was needed.

"I figure it'll take four hours to get the whole batch crated," Kelleher
said. "You can take some time off now, if you want to. You'll be working
to make up for it soon enough."

"I won't debate the point. Suppose I report to you at 0900?"

"Suits me."

"In case you need me before then, I'll be in my cabin. Just ring me."

Once back in his cabin, a square cubicle in the beehive of single men's
rooms in the big ship's fore sect