Pappas followed the ship with his eyes as long as he could distinguish it--which wasn't long. Then, he was _alone_.
Not only were there no walls around him, there wasn't even anything under his feet. There was nothing, anywhere.
"So this was what all that talk added up to," Pappas thought. "They simply set me out here in the middle of the vacuum to stay until the suit's food and air give out."
He thought he might as well make himself at home. He checked over the suit. It was nicely equipped. In addition to standard items, there were several things strapped onto the back of the suit on the outside which pleased him until he realized how little difference they made: There was a reel of light, strong cable with magnetic grapples which could be clamped onto it. There was a hand reaction motor the size of a Stillson wrench, and ten containers of fuel, each the size of a fountain pen. There was a large mirror, for signaling. Also for the same purpose, there was a powerful, highly directional searchlight. He checked the cells which powered it; they were low, but he knew they were charging at that moment from the sunlight falling on them. The searchlight would work. For what that was worth.
So much for his suit. Next, where was he? His position couldn't be given in latitude and longitude, because there wasn't anything for it to be latitude and longitude _on_. He was somewhere between the orbits of Venus and Earth. The direction of the Sun he could tell by glancing at the arm of his spacesuit and seeing where the sunlight fell--the Sun was behind him and to the right, and a little "downward."
As for the Earth, that would be the next brightest body in his sky. He craned his head in all directions, searching. Then he took out the hand reaction motor and gave a blast to start himself spinning, so he could search in the directions he hadn't been able to see in before. Even the short blast he used made the motor tug at his hand and started the universe whirling around him frighteningly. He turned the control on the motor down as low as it would go, then pressed the button several more times. Finally he had canceled out most of his rotation, and the Milky Way was wheeling calmly about him. He got himself oriented again and after a short time had identified Earth, which was close enough to appear as a blue-green disk.