munication with Earth had
ceased. Besides, the mother world was now moving away from them and
would pass behind the Sun. Efforts to obtain medical advice for Boulton
proved futile.

After they had passed the orbital line of the asteroids and had
rearranged their drive so that they were falling freely toward Jupiter,
Lockhart called the exploring crew together. "I've got a job for you
men," he announced.

Haines, Ferrati, and Burl gathered about the control board to listen.
They were restless for something to do--plans for the Jupiter landing
could not be made until they knew what the situation was going to be,
for it would be one thing if the station were located on that giant
planet itself, another if on one of its satellites.

The colonel wasted no time. "While you were on Mars and we were waiting
for you, I took the opportunity to examine the outer shell of this
ship. You know, of course, that we are constantly being bombarded by
cosmic dust, the micrometeorites that always prove troublesome to the
Earth satellites and space platforms. The ship has been fortunate in
that it has not been struck by any meteoric matter of size, but we have
been peppered heavily by dust particles. As a result, the outer shell of
our ship is pitted in some spots, and in several places worn perhaps
dangerously thin. I don't mean to imply that there are going to be any
holes very soon, but I think that there are some parts which we should
reinforce or patch."

When he stopped for breath, Burl broke in. "You mean you want us to work
on the outer shell?"

Lockhart nodded. "Someone has to do it, and during flights you men are
the deck crew. So it's going to be your baby. I am going to keep the
ship on free fall for the next several periods and this should make it
simpler for you to go outside, in space suits, and do the job."

The next hour saw all three hard at work. Dressed in heavy, sealed,
warmed outer-space outfits, wearing metal bowl-like helmets with sealed
glass fronts, and drawing oxygen from tanks strapped on their backs, the
three men left the inner sphere and emerged on the outer surface of the
_Magellan_.

Burl found it a weird and awesome experience. There was no gravitational
drag, so that even as he stepped through the exit port, the scene
shifted until he seemed to be standing on metal ground, looking upward
at thousands and tens of thousands of silent white stars. Nothing
moved--except, of course, the space-suited bo