IX + 

Earth lies ahead of me, green and safe. The muted atomics behind me have brought me back from beyond Venus, where the split-second jump into hyperspace threw me. + 

Let Mort Weidmann have his farther stars⁠—or anyone else who cares to try. I’ve had all I want from the new drive. + 

I gave Pat a funeral pyre. And now the lonely Asteroids have a star of their own. + 