All space was electrified as that harsh challenge rang out . . . but John Endlich hesitated. For he saw beyond his own murder -- saw the horror and destruction his death would unleash -- and knew he dared not fight back!
The space ship landed briefly, and John Endlich lifted the huge Asteroids Homesteaders Office box, which contained everything from a prefabricated house to toothbrushes for his family, down from the hold-port without help or visible effort.
In the tiny gravity of the asteroid, Vesta, doing this was no trouble at all. But beyond this point the situation was -- bitter.