227 The Asteroid Elinor VXIII

As far as the eye could see, a rocky, porous, greyish soil veined with patches that looked like some mysterious dark metal as black as oil. A distant star gave them its faint white light, which was no more intense than that of a full moon. The asteroid itself was rotating rapidly, the demarcation of the unlit side of the asteroid was rapidly approaching, while the sun was escaping in the opposite direction.

With the exception of this tiny or distant sun, the sky was starless, giving an icy and desolate atmosphere where life should not have been able to develop.

Once the surprise was over, Jake quickly acclimatized to his new sensations, vigilantly scanning the other "astronauts" around him. He was far from alone. Thousands of people of human morphology were standing beside him, wearing the same silver spacesuits to ensure good visibility of their wearer.