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To those who have not actually been in space, the investigation of a stellar system and the search for habitable planetsTo the space a star, which is a huge glowinginto helium, is almost too easy It advertises itself Even in the blackness of the Nebula, it is only a question of distance Approach within five billion miles, and it will still advertise itself

But a planet, a relatively sht, is another h a stellar systeles without ever coh to a planet to see it for what it is, barring the oddest of coincidences

Rather, one adopts a system A position is taken up in space at a distance froated of some ten thousand times the star&039;s diameter From Galactic statistics it is known that not one time in fifty thousand is a planet located farther from its primary than that Furthermore, practically never is a habitable planet located farther from its primary than one thousand times its sun&039;s diameter

This means that from the position in space assumed by the ship, any habitable planet rees of the star This represents an area only 1/3600th of the entire sky That area can be handled in detail with relatively few observations

The movement of the tele-camera can be so adjusted as to counteract the motion of the ship in its orbit Under those conditions a time exposure will pinpoint the constellations in the star&039;s neighborhood; provided, of course, that the blaze of the sun itself is blocked out, which is easily done Planets, however, will have perceptible proper motions and therefore show up as tiny streaks on the film

When no streaks appear, there is always the possibility that the planets are behind their primary The maneuver is therefore repeated from another position in space and, usually, at a point closer to the star

It is a very dull procedure indeed, and when it has been repeated three tiative results, a certain depression of morale is bound to occur

Gillbret&039;sfor quite a while Longer and longer intervals took place between the "

They were readying for the Jump to the fourth star on the Autarch&039;s list, and Biron said, "We hit a star each tiures are correct"

Gillbret said, "Statistics show that one out of three stars has a planetary system"

Biron nodded It was a orn statistic Every child was taught that in eleraphy

Gillbret went on, "Thatthree stars at randole planet-is two thirds cubed, which is eight twenty-sevenths, or less than one in three"

"So?"

"And we haven&039;t found any There must be a mistake"

"You saw the plates yourself And, besides, what price statistics? For all we know, conditions are different inside a Nebula Maybe the particle fog prevents planets fro is the result of planets that didn&039;t coalesce"

"You don&039;t mean that?" said Gillbret, stricken

"You&039;re right I&039; about cosony Why the hell are planets formed, anyway? Never heard of one that wasn&039;t filled with trouble" Biron looked haggard hi up little stickers on the control panels

He said, "Anye&039;ve got the blasters all worked out, range finders, power control-all that"

It was very difficult not to look at the visiplate They&039;d be Juh that ink

Biron said absently, "You knohy they call it the Horsehead Nebula, Gil?"

"The firstto tell ?"

"It may be They have a different explanation on Earth"

"Oh?"

"They claim it&039;s called that because it looks like a horse&039;s head"

"What&039;s a horse?"

"It&039;s an aniht, but the Nebula doesn&039;t look like any anile you look at it Now froers, but I looked at it once from the observatory at the University of Earth It does look a little like a horse&039;s head Maybe that is how the name started Maybe there never was any Horace Hedd Who knows?" Biron felt bored with thesimply to hear himself talk

There was a pause, a pause that lasted too long, because it gave Gillbret a chance to bring up a subject which Biron did not wish to discuss and could not force hi about

Gillbret said, "Where&039;s Arta?"

Biron looked at him quickly and said, "Somewhere in the trailer I don&039;t follow her about"

"The Autarch does Hehere"

"How lucky for her"

Gillbret&039;s wrinkles becaether "Oh, don&039;t be a fool, Biron Artemisia is a Hinriad She can&039;t take what you&039;ve been giving her"

Biron said, "Drop it"

"I won&039;t I&039;ve been spoiling to say this Why are you doing this to her? Because Hinrik ht have been responsible for your father&039;s death? Hinrik is ed toward ht," Biron said "I haven&039;t changed toward you I speak to you as I always have I speak to Artemisia as well"

"As you always have?"

Biron was silent

Gillbret said, "You&039;re throwing her at the Autarch "

"It&039;s her choice"

"It isn&039;t It&039;s your choice Listen, Biron"-Gillbret grew confidential; he put a hand on Biron&039;s knee-"this isn&039;t a thing I like to interfere with, you understand It&039;s just that she&039;s the only good thing in the Hinriad family just ROW Would you be amused if I said I loved her? I have no children of my own"

"I don&039;t question your love"

"Then I advise you for her good Stop the Autarch, Biron"

"I thought you trusted him, Oil"

"As the Autarch, yes As an anti-Tyrannian leader, yes But as a man for a woman, as a man for Artemisia, no"

"Tell her that"

"She wouldn&039;t listen"

"Do you think she would listen if I told her?"

"If you told her properly"

For a htly at dry lips Then he turned away, saying harshly, "I don&039;t want to talk about it"

Gillbret said sadly, "You&039;ll regret this"

Biron said nothing Why didn&039;t Gillbret leave hiret all this It wasn&039;t easy But what could he do? There was no safe way of backing out

He tried breathing through hissensation in his chest

The outlook was different after the next Jump Biron had set the controls in accordance with the instructions from the Autarch&039;s pilot, and left the h this one And then Gillbret was shaking his shoulder

"Biron! Biron!"

Biron rolled over in his bunk and out, landing in a crouch, fists balled "What is it?"

Gillbret stepped back hastily "Now, take it easy We&039;ve got an F-2 this time"

It sank in Gillbret drew a deep breath and relaxed "Don&039;t ever wake me that way, Gillbret An F-2, you say? I suppose you&039;re referring to the new star"