"Varann--oh, well, I've always wanted to see it anyway."
The Centaurian began casting about, steering by the aspect of the sky.
Before many hours, she was slanting in toward a double star with a dim
red dwarf in the background. "This is it," she said. "This is it."
"Okay," answered Ray. "Now tell me how you find a planet."
"Hmmm--vell--" Dyann scratched her ruddy head.
Ray began to figure it aloud.
"The planets--let me see, now--yeah, they're in the plane of the two
stars. They'd have to be. So if you go out to a point in that plane
where Alpha A, your sun, seems of about the right size, and then swing
in a circle of that radius, you should come pretty close to Varann. It
has a good-sized moon, doesn't it, and its color is greenish-blue? Yes,
we should be able to spot it."
"You are so clever," sighed Dyann.
"Hah!" sneered Urushkidan.
At a mere fraction of the velocity of light--Ray thought of the
consequences of hitting a planet when going faster than light, and
wished he hadn't--the spaceboat moved around Alpha A. It seemed only
minutes before Dyann pointed and cried joyously, "There ve are. There
is home. After many years--home!"
"I would still like to know what we are going to do when we get there,"
said Urushkidan.
He was not answered. Dyann and Ray were too busy bringing the vessel
down into the atmosphere and across the wild surface.
"Kathantuma!" cried the girl. "There is my homeland. See, there is the
mountain, old Mother Hastan. There is the city Mayta. Hold on, ve're
goin down!"