fter six whole days of rain, the cloud formation was beginning to break and disperse, revealing Saros 5's wonderous view of its sister planets; large spheres of differential size andcolour silhouetted against a blanket of stars.

Sterne viewed thescene from the comfort of his living quarters, as the lrgest of the three planets continued to move through its orbital path to reveal a light-emitting mass of gas - a star, bright in all its glory, yet small in appearance, the centre of the force in which all the planets moved. The view impressed him, but his thoughts were elsewhere - of Earth, its natural air, the every day bustle of the busy city in which he had lived with his family.

Music carried through the air of his room soothing his senses and having obtained himself a drink from the dispense machine set within the wall, he continued to view the scene before him, allowing the sights and the soft orchestral music to wash over him, soothin away his tensions and anxieties.

At a single verbal command the lights went out allowing the light from Saros 5's star to filter through the windows, casting long shadows along the floor and wall of his room.

Sterne took a mouth full of his drink allowing its taste to linger on his tongue, before swallowing and allowing the liquid to gently burn his throat, pleasently, reminding him again of Earth and of home, and the nights he had enjoyed down his local with some of his mates.

His thoughts were interrupted by the door to his room sliding open.

Brent, another engineer and it seemed, only friend entered. He paused momentarily in the doorway as his eyes became acustomed to the dark interior. He saw the starlit figure of Sterne standing, looking out at the view.

Brent moved over to the table, centered within the room, the door closed fast as he sat down and took a swig from the can of coke he was carrying: as Sterne had just finished his shift, Brent was about to go on and therefore found it unwise to allow himself the two units of

Silence followed.

Sterne didn't acknowledge the fact that Brent was there and continued to stare out at the barren landscape that lay beyond the boundries of the base and the total contrast of the night sky.

Brent, however was a friend and knew what was bothering him: Sterne was beginning to miss his wife and kids back home on Earth, something which wasn't easy to discuss with anyone as it was strict Company policy that all personnel were unattached as insurrance premiums were too high to payout in the event of accident or loss of life - but like everybody else, Sterne needed the money and therefore needed to keep such information quiet, or it meant instant dismissal and a heavy fine and the bounty for this job was just too good to miss out on

Nothing exciting ever happened here, he thought, and a little excitement was what he needed right now. People had begun to notice his moody behaviour and found him to be unapproachable.

Brent was about to speak but Stene anticipated this and cut in, 'I know, you don't have to say anything.'

'Look, Sterne, you've got to lighten up. You're going to have to forget about the folks back home or someone's going to find out.'

'It's easy for you to say, Brent.'

'Not as easy as you think.'

Sterne turned his head slightly to face Brent. 'You too?' he asked.

'Well, not quite - almost.' Leaving his half empty can of coke on the table, Brent moved over to Sterne's side and pulled out his wallet from his overals that he was wearing and from it produced a photograph of his girl-friend and their son.