the atmosphere. What's more, all the planets inside the asteroid belt, except this one, are inhabited by Centaurs—and we're certainly inside the asteroid belt."

"You should know." O'Dea glared at him. "After letting that asteroid smash through our fuel tanks—"

"You make me tired," Hawthorne yawned. "We're getting on each other's nerves. Better get some sleep and cool off."

He cleared a place on the floor and relaxed. While O'Dea watched, fists knotted, the burly pilot started to snore.

O'Dea grinned suddenly and turned away. He stared thoughtfully out the port. It was dark. A feeble, distant sun was falling below a rugged horizon; and in the sky above he picked out ruddy Proxima.

But there should be a "real" sun due to rise soon. Nice thing about Centauri—there were enough suns to suit anybody.

His eyes fell on the wad of bills Hawthorne had thrown at him. He retrieved it happily, also finding the photograph. He gazed fondly at the deep dark eyes and rich lips of the girl, kissed the picture happily.

"Good night, Mercedes," he said. "We'll show him in the morning."

Brilliant sunlight flooded the cabin when they awoke. At this distance, the sun seemed somewhat smaller than Sol as seen from Earth, but it was brilliant and warm. They ate a fast concentrated breakfast and studied the airlock. Hawthorne voiced his verdict:

"We can repair it in a few hours. Get the tools out."

O'Dea was looking at the gravity indicator.

"Gravity is .92," he announced. "That's the correct figure for Avignon—no question about it. But I can't understand that atmosphere! It doesn't belong!"

He took the torch Hawthorne shoved at him and they went to work on the airlock. When they had unjammed the inner door, they found that the outer had somehow escaped injury.

They crawled into the lock, an almost vertical climb with the ship tilted as it was, and closed the inner door behind them. O'Dea shoved open the outer and pushed his nose over the edge of the ship. His eyes bulged.

"Gulp," he said, pointing.

Hawthorne's head appeared beside O'Dea's, and the two stared at the 

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