Or the stars in the sky....
At an hour before sunrise we tuned in our radio and heard Governor Eddington's voice cut through the static. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "it is now exactly fifty-nine minutes and thirty-seven seconds until blast-off. Let me review the rules for you, to avoid any unpleasantness later.
"One. No ship is to leave before the signal. Any ship which does so is automatically disqualified, and your claim will not be recognized.
"Two. Any asteroid is fair prey, but the government strongly recommends that you consider two items. First, those asteroids which lie within the belt itself and which do not have overly eccentric orbits are preferable since the government supply ships will visit them much more frequently. Second, you will benefit by selecting an asteroid with one or more of the old abandoned mining domes, for two reasons. With slight repairs you can live within the domes, and also their existence assures you of profitable mineral material.
"Three. Vesta, the government base within the Belt, is not to be landed upon.
"Four. Each ship is restricted to one asteroid, and once your selection is made it must be a permanent one.
"Five. No more than one ship can claim a given asteroid, and the automatic chronometer within each ship will radio the moment of landing to Vesta, thus taking care of any priority claims.
"Six. Claim jumping will be considered by the Federal Worlds Government as an act of piracy and will be punished accordingly.
"Seven. In the event that an asteroid is abandoned for any reason, a new ship may claim it at once, and the departing ship can claim no other asteroid.