Below was a high gulch of the Lunar Appenines, a pattern of dazzling
glare and harsh moonshadows. Ramshackle mine-buildings of
prefabricated plastic straggled out from the shrouding blackness under
a pinnacled ridge. Denver eyed the forbidding terrain with
hair-raising panic. He checked the speed of the racing space sled,
circled once, and tried to pick out a soft spot. The ship swooped down
like a falling rock, power off. Denver awaited the landing shock.

It was rough. Space was too cramped and he overshot his planned
landing. The spacer set down hard beyond the cleared strip, raising
spurting clouds of volcanic ash which showered his view-ports in
blinding glare.

Skids shrilled on naked rock, causing painful vibrations in the cabin.
Denver wrenched at controls, trying to avoid jagged tongues of broken
lava protruding above the dust-floor. Sun-fire turned the disturbed
dust into luminous haze blanketing ship and making vision impossible.
The spacer ground to an agonized stop. Denver's landing was rough but
he still lived.

He sat blankly and felt cold in the superheated cabin. It was nice and
surprising to be alive. Without sustaining air the dust settled almost
instantly. Haze cleared outside the ports.

Charley whined eagerly. He detached himself from the tilting control
panel and sailed wildly about like a hydrophobic goldfish in a bowl of
water. A succession of spitting and crackling sounds poured from him
as he batted his lunatic face to the view-ports to peer outside.
Pseudo-tendrils formed around his travesty of mouth, and he wrinkled
his absurd face into yellow typhoons of excitement. This was fun.
Let's do it again!

Denver grunted uncomfortably. He studied the staggering scene of Lunar
landscape without any definite hope. Something blazing from the peak
of the largest mine-structure caught his eye. With a snort of bitter
disgust he identified the dazzle.

Distress signals in Interplanetary Code! That should be very helpful
under the poisonous circumstances. He swore again, numbly, but with
deep sincerity.

Charley danced and flicked around the cabin like a free electron with
a careless disregard for traffic regulations and public safety. It was
wordless effort to express his eagerness to go outside and explore
with Denver.

In spite of himself, Tod Denver grinned at the display.

"Not this time, Charley. You wait in the ship while I take a quick
look around. From the appearance of things, I'l