The Lagrange System was only a star lost in the receding cluster.

Sheffield looked at that large patch of light and said, "So beautiful a planet." He sighed. "Well, let's hope we live. In any case, the government will watch out for beryllium-high planets in the future. There'll be no catching mankind with that particular variety of sucker bait any more."

Mark did not respond to that idealism. The trial was over; the excitement was gone. There were tears in his eyes. He could only think that he might die; and that if he did, there were so many things, so many, many things in the Universe that he would never learn.