planet-hopper n. 1

Everything passed smoothly and without mishap. I was becoming an experienced ‘planet hopper’. Its gravity caught me in an unrelenting grip, and I let my limbs rush downward first in their long curve, to land with a slight jar on solid earth far below.

You’ve killed the stowaway. You’ve crushed the nightmare of a whole crew—that some travel-happy bum will endanger their lives. All the bright boys who think it smart to steal a ride. All the footloose men, the romantic kids, the would-be planet hoppers. All of them will think of you—and stay at home.

And, as we’d gone our separate ways, so our ways of thinking had changed. Thorsten—well, he’d taken his choice, and some day I might have to go into the Belt and do something about it, but Mort’s attitude hurt. He didn’t have any respect for me—he couldn’t have, for a man who’d resigned his commission and become a planet-hopper.

The suit was old! No modern planet hopper, no matter how out of funds, would entrust his life to a suit from that far in the past.

There’s no way they could be looking for you! You’re just a planet-hopper, going about his business. Stay calm!