We thought that going through the Warp-Way would be exciting, but it happened so quickly that we did not even notice. Aunt Anastasia said afterwards that she had seen the stars stretch out and snap back like rubber bands, but she said it happened very fast and she understood why we couldn’t see it.

When we began our approach to the new planet, Mr. Halloway had bad news—a fuel tank had been struck, and we were low. This meant that we couldn’t orbit the new land for a day, searching for a good spot to drop, as had been the plan—we would have to enter orbit, drop, and hope for the best. Otherwise Mr. Halloway would not have enough fuel to fly back. Uncle Juan asked if he couldn’t just drop with us and join our family in our venture, but Mr. Halloway said that was out of the question, and we understood.

It was very exciting to look at the new planet through the porthole. It was redder and goldener than Earth, but we saw smudges of white, which Father said was a good sign; it meant water. “But water isn’t white,” said Keziah, and Father explained that the white was probably clouds, which were made of water vapor. Mother was so excited she could hardly speak, only laugh and bounce, and Aunt Joy and Aunt Anastasia chattered loudly and flapped their hands. Uncle Isaac and Aunt Eva and Uncle Robert cried again, because it was not Earth, but then Uncle Robert shook his curls and said that he was happy, all the same, that nothing could replace Earth, and that the newness of the planet was good and right. “What aminals are there, Momma?” asked Michele, and Aunt Tex told her we would have to find out.

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Now the drop pods. We found we couldn’t fit everything we brought in them, so we left behind a plow that Uncle Robert had brought, a gas stove, the canoe, Zion and Aunt Tex’s guitars, and a number of other bulky things. Everything and everyone had to be strapped in tightly. Then more bad news—two of the drop pods would not eject. And all the while Mr. Halloway was hurrying us, so in the end we brought very little. Everyone crowded in the pods, we all counted down together, and fell like stones into the red-and-gold. The fall lasted longer than we thought it would, and it was rather tense, with everyone holding each other tight, and Ransom very distressed because he could hardly move, but in the end we landed with a bump. The children squirmed to be let out, but Uncle Robert said he would go out first, with Father and Uncle Isaac. It seemed a very long time to us children before they came back, saying that the air was good, but we had landed in some kind of desert.