onds before releasing the
drogue chute so I'll clear the ship." Then he spoke to the desert. "And
maybe another ten to give the capsule time to slow down."

He counted then pulled the chute release. Nylon streamed out behind him
and snapped open with a tremendous jar. A moment later, bundles of metal
ribbons floated out and billowed into a giant umbrella. The last thing
he remembered was the taste of blood on his lips.

When Brandon opened his eyes he was staring at the silvery disks of the
twin moons. They were high in the sky, obscuring the center of the Milky
Way. Funny he should be lying on his back looking at the sky, he
thought. Then he remembered.

The capsule was on its back and Brandon was still strapped securely to
the seat. His whole body ached. Tendons had been pulled, muscles
strained from the force of the ejection. His oxygen mask was still in
place, but his helmet hung partly loose. He adjusted it automatically,
then unbuckled the seat straps. He took a deep breath. Under the oxygen
mask, he was aware of dried blood clotted in his nostrils, caked around
the corners of his lips.

With an effort he sat up on the seat back and looked through the
perma-glas. A tangle of cords stretched out to the nylon of the main
chute draped over a dust dune. Beyond it he could see the gleaming metal
ribbons of the drogue chute.

Ahead of him, behind some low hills, he could see a dull red glow. The
ship, he thought. Astro may already be hovering over it.

He dragged the survival kit from behind the seat and pulled out some
rations, a first-aid kit, finally a tele-talkie. Raising the antenna, he
plugged in the mike cord from his mask and held down the "talk" key with
his thumb.

"Astro One, this is Brandon. Come in."

As he talked a picture flickered on the screen. It was the radio room on
Astro One. Colonel Towers was pacing back and forth in front of the
radioman.

"Shall I keep trying to raise him?" he heard Reinhardt ask.

"Damn fool stunt," Towers sputtered. "Know what I think? I think he went
down deliberately. Just to be the first human being to walk the ground
of a planet of another solar system."

"Astro, this is Brandon. Come in please."

Towers continued to pace and talk. "He did it to spite me."

"But we can't raise him sir," the radio operator said. "Maybe he didn't
get out of it alive."

"Colonel Towers, can't you hear me?" Brandon yelled into his oxygen
mask.

"He got out all right," the