"Three months, sir."
"Exactly. For three months we've been bobbling aimlessly, millions of miles from earth. No hope, no hope whatever. And now we're landing in a city just like the one we first left, or almost like it. Friden, I ask you, does that make any sense at all?"
"No, sir."
"And does it seem logical that there should be an asteroid where no asteroid should be?"
"It does not."
They stared at the glass, by turns.
"Do you see that, Friden?"
"I'm afraid so, sir."
"A lake. A lake and a house by it and trees ... tell me, how many of us are left?"
Mr. Friden held up his right hand and began unbending fingers.