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"Stone, this is Hollis Where are you?"

"I don't kno can I? Which way is up? I'"

They fell They fell as pebbles fall doells They were scattered as jackstones are scattered froantic throw And now instead of men there were only voices--all kinds of voices, disenation

"We're going away from each other"

This was true Hollis, swinging head over heels, knew this was true He kneith a vague acceptance They were parting to go their separate ways, and nothing could bring theht space suits with the glass tubes over their pale faces, but they hadn't had time to lock on their force units With the the each other until they were an island of men with some plan But without the force units snapped to their shoulders they wereto a separate and irrevocable fate

A period of perhaps ten minutes elapsed while the first terror died and a e voices in and out, on a great dark loo a final pattern

"Stone to Hollis How long can we talk by phone?"

"It depends on how fast you're going your way and I' mine

"An hour, I make it"

"That should do it," said Hollis, abstracted and quiet

"What happened?" said Hollis a minute later

"The rocket blew up, that's all Rockets do blow up"

'Which way are you going?"

"It looks like I'll hit the moon"

"It's Earth for me Back to old Mother Earth at ten thousand ht of it with a queer abstraction ofit fall down and down through space, as objective as he had been in regard to the first falling snowflakes of a winter season long gone