"I learned about that in Sunday School, Joe."

"Maybe I mean that," said Joe helplessly. "But anyhow there's something
we fight--and there's Something that fights with us. So I think we're
going to get the Moonship down all right."

Mike said sharply: "You mean you think this is all worked out in
advance. That we'd be here, we'd get here----"

The Chief said impatiently, "It's figured out so we can do it if we got
the innards. We got the chance. We can duck it. But if we duck it, it's
bad, and somebody else has to have the chance later. I know what Joe's
saying. Us men, we got to get to the stars. There's millions of 'em, and
we need the planets they've got swimming around 'em."

Haney said, "Some of them have planets. That's known. Yeah."

"Those planets ain't going to go on forever with nobody using 'em,"
grunted the Chief. "It don't make sense. And things in general do make
sense. All but us humans," he finished with a grin. "And I like us,
anyhow. Joe's right. We'll get by this time. And if we don't--some other
guys'll have to do the job of landing on the Moon. But it'll be
done--as a starter."

"I can see lots of mountains down there. Plain," Mike said quietly.

"What's the radar say?"

Joe looked. Back at the Platform it had shown the curve of the surface
of Earth. Here a dim line was beginning to show on the vertical-plane
screen. It was the curve of the surface of the Moon.

"We might as well get set," said Joe. "We've got time but we might as
well. Space suits on. I'll tighten up the chain. Steering rockets'll do
that. Then we'll take a last look. All firing racks loaded outside?"

"Yeah," said Haney. He grinned wrily. "You know, Joe, I know what I
know, but still I'm scared."

"Me, too," said Joe.

But there were things to do. They took their places. They watched out
the ports. The Moon had seemed a vast round ball a little while back.
Now it appeared to be flattening. Its edges still curved away beyond a
surprisingly nearby horizon. The ring-mountains were amazingly distinct.
There were incredibly wide, smooth spaces with mottled colorings. But
the mountains....

When the ships were 40 miles high the space tug blasted valorously, and
all the panorama of the Moon's surface was momentarily hidden by the
racing clouds of mist. The rockets burned out.

Haney and the Chief replaced the burned-out rockets. They were gigantic,
heavy-bore tubes which they couldn't have stirred on Earth. Now they
load