ure
within fifty feet of that slow moving spot of scintillating brilliance,
even in a space-suit, meant death--but, poised around him in space, they
watched with shuddering, incredulous amazement, the monstrous human
being in whose veins ran molten water instead of blood; whose body was
already so fiercely hot that it could exist unharmed while working
practically without protection, upon _liquefied_ metal!

Finally the welding was done. The insulating space was evacuated and
held its vacuum--outer and inner shells were bottle-tight. The two
mechanics heaved deep sighs of relief as they discarded their cumbersome
armor and began to repair what few of their machine tools had been
damaged by the slashing plane of force which had so neatly sliced the
_Forlorn Hope_ into sections.

"Say, big fellow, you're the guy that slings the ink, ain't you?" Nadia
extinguished her torch and swaggered up to Stevens, hands on hips, her
walk an exaggerated roll. "Write me out a long walk. This job's all
played out, so I think I'll get me a good job on Titan. I said give me
my time, you big stiff!"

"You didn't say nothing!" growled Stevens in his deepest bass, playing
up to her lead as he always did. "Bounce back, cub, you've struck a
rubber fence! You signed on for duration and you'll stick--see?"

Arm in arm they went over to the nearest communicator plate. Flipping
the switch, Stevens turned the dial and Titan shone upon the screen; so
close, that it no longer resembled a moon, but was a world toward which
they were falling with an immense velocity.

"Not close enough to make out much detail yet--let's take another
look at Saturn," and Stevens projected the visiray beam out toward the
mighty planet. It was now an enormous full moon, almost five degrees in
apparent diameter,[1] its visible surface an expanse of what they knew
to be billowing cloud, shining brilliantly white in the pale sunlight,
broken only by a dark equatorial band.

[Footnote 1: The moon subtends an angle of about one-half of a degree.]

"Those rings were _such_ a gorgeous spectacle a little while ago!" Nadia
mourned. "It's a shame that Titan has to be right in their plane, isn't
it? Think of living this close to one of the most wonderful sights in
the Solar System, and never being able to see it. Think they know what
they're missing, Steve?"

"We'll have to ask Barkovis," Stevens replied. He swung the communicator
beam back toward Titan, and Nadia shuddered.