and animal life. Their only ties to the mother planet were the cosmic forces that kept them constantly revolving around her and their common atmosphere, so deep it enveloped both Saturn and the Ring.

Flint knew every shape, every color, every landmark in the place, and his plane weaved through the maze at a speed that would have ended in a crash with a less experienced hand at the controls.

The hazy twilight was just settling over Saturn when he plunged down into its capital city. Pausing at the space-port only long enough to wiggle into a shirt, he caught the shuttle chute across town and arrived at the capitol just as the government workers were leaving the building. He ran up the gleaming stairs, turned down the glowing corridor and hurried through the silver door on which impressive letters read: GOVERNOR'S OFFICE.

A secretary looked up from her desk with startled eyes. Her expression changed from surprise to alarm as Flint strode past her toward a closed door at the end of the room.

"Here! Do you have an appointment—"

But Flint had shoved open the door and stepped into the Governor's private office.

A tall, white-haired man looked up from a huge desk. He rose quickly, smiling, and held out his hand. "I've been wanting to see you, Lou. No one knew how to find you in the Ring."

Flint shook his hand, pulled up a chair, and started right in. "This tract of planetoids of mine out in the Ring—do I own them—legally—or don't I?"

The Governor looked down at his hands, inspected his fingernails. "That's what I wanted to see you about, Lou." When he met Flint's eyes it was with a look that said he was about to face an unpleasant task. "Your father spent half his life hunting space bat out there—he claimed several planetoids, I believe."

"Twenty-two of them," Flint stated.

"And I know that after your father died," the Governor continued, "you took over and have been hunting bat yourself ever since—a mighty long wild-goose chase I call it, but that's your business. Anyway, your father was one of the pioneers here, Lou. I'll always—"

"Governor, if you've got bad news, spill it."

"All right. I'll give it to you straight. You don't have any legal claim to those planetoids. The Saturnian Government has 

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