I can to make sure I get my trip back when my eighteen weeks
are up. If I got caught off bounds that would ruin everything--I'd
really be in a mess."

Also, even if he could get to the shipyards, the moment he was spotted
trying to get inside any of those ships he would undoubtedly be killed
by guards who would certainly shoot first and ask questions later--if
any.

Nor were there any longer any native birds or animals left on Algon he
could use--he had learned that the men had killed them off soon after
they arrived.

"No, I'll just have to keep on trying, and get what dope I can without
exposing myself. With a month and a half I should be able to get a lot
more, and with what I already know, the Corps top brass will take steps,
but fast!"

Suddenly a new idea sprang into his mind. Where was "here?" In his
excitement and planning he had entirely forgotten to finish figuring out
that point.

That evening after dinner he stayed outside, ostensibly walking about
aimlessly, in reality looking at and studying the stars when he was sure
no one was watching him.

He couldn't spot any of the more familiar constellations such as the Big
Dipper, Bear, or the Southern Cross. He knew he was far to one side of
the galaxy from Terra--that while from there one could see the "front"
of those configurations, now he would be getting a "sidewise" view. But
he could identify quite a few of the bigger suns and distant nebulae.

He picked out several blue-white and red giants he was sure he knew.
That was Andromeda off there; that one was undoubtedly Orion--no other
contained so many 4.0 to 5.2 stars, beside the gigantic Rigel,
Betelgeuse and Bellatrix.

Good, he could fix all that in his mind well enough to draw it when he
got back, and the Corps planetographers certainly would pin-point this
system from those directions. Distance--let's see? He strained to
remember the time it had taken that freighter to come here, and
estimated that, with its slower speed, this world was somewhere between
ten and fifteen lights. He would time it more carefully, going back, and
estimate the ship's speed as closely as possible.

Young George Hanlon was maturing swiftly under the stress of the
tremendous task he was attempting. He was learning that he must think
and plan well ahead of time. He realized he could not afford to make any
serious mistakes, lest not only his task remain uncompleted, but his
life be forfeit as well.

He knew now that