"Five minutes to touchdown," reported the operator.

"Come on, Kit," muttered Strong through clenched teeth. "Pour it on,
boy. Give her the gun!"

The two blips drew closer to the heart of the scope. First one and then
the other shooting ahead for brief seconds as they began deceleration.

"You can see them outside, now, sir," said the operator, and Strong
jumped to the door, stepping out on the observation platform that looked
out over the spaceport. He searched the skies above him, and then,
faintly, he could see the exhaust trails of the two ships as they
streaked over the field, beginning their deceleration orbits around the
satellite.

Behind him, Strong heard the voice of the tower operator ordering Ramp
Four and Ramp Five cleared for the two ships, and the mobs of people on
the spaceport surged back. Strong noted the irony of the situation. The
people of Titan were not out to greet a hero of space, but were waiting
for the next evacuation rocket ship.

The ramps were cleared and within minutes the two ships reappeared over
the horizon, nosing upward over the spaceport in an arc, their braking
rockets blasting loudly as they prepared to land.

Then, feeling that his heart would stop, Captain Strong saw Quent Miles'
black ship touch the surface of the spaceport first. Kit Barnard had
lost the race. By seconds to be sure, but he had lost the race.