_you_ pipe down! I've heard you rave _so_ much about those two--I'd
lots rather rave about you, and with more reason. I wish that sounder
would start sounding."

"Our first message hasn't gone half way yet. It takes about forty
minutes for the impulse to get to where I think they are, so that even
if they got the first one and answered it instantly, it would be eighty
minutes before we'd get it. I sort of expect an answer late tonight, but
I won't be disappointed if it takes a week to locate them."

"I will!" declared the girl, and indeed, very little work was done that
day by either of the castaways.

Slowly the day wore on, and the receiving sounder remained silent.
Supper was eaten as the sun dropped low and disappeared, but they felt
no desire to sleep. Instead, they went out in front of the steel wall,
where Stevens built a small campfire. Leaning back against the wall of
their vessel, they fell into companionable silence, which was suddenly
broken by Stevens.

"Nadia, I just had a thought. I'll bet four dollars I've wasted a lot of
time. They'll certainly have automatic relays on Tellus, to save me the
trouble of hunting for them, but like an idiot I never thought of it
until just this minute, in spite of the speech I made you about them.
I'm going to change those directors right now."

"That's quite a job, isn't it?"

"No, only a few minutes."

"Do it in the morning; you've done enough for one day--maybe you've hit
them already, any way."

They again became silent, watching Jupiter, an enormous moon some seven
degrees in apparent diameter.

"Steve, I simply can't get used to such a prodigious moon! Look at the
stripes, and look at that perfectly incredible...."

A gong sounded and they both jumped to their feet and raced madly into
the _Hope_. The ultra-receiver had come to life and the sounder was
chattering insanely--someone was sending with terrific speed, but with
perfect definition and spacing.

"That's Brandon's fist--I'd know his style anywhere," Stevens shouted,
as he seized notebook and pencil.

"Tell me what it says, quick, Steve!" Nadia implored.

"Can't talk--read it!" Stevens snapped. His hand was flying over the
paper, racing to keep up with the screaming sounder.

"...ymede all x stevens ganymede all x stevens ganymede all x placing
and will keep sirius on plane between you and tellus circle fifteen
forty north going tellus first send full data spreading beam to
cover circle fift