outside in the fast-cooling early spring dark pointed toward a pre-dawn frost that might be the last of the season ( then again , might not ) , countless stars and countable planets sparkled like so many diamonds in the vast blank dome of a dry and clear moonless night , those infinite sparkles appearing motionless but in fact rushing past at unfathomable speeds toward their appointed destiniesthe earth itself spinning fast and moving through its ordained space ; and the stars and planets also racing through the vast emptiness of space , moving toward the earth , or away , or sideways ; everything moving : toward something , toward nothing , but moving , powerless to halt the movement or return from whence it had come .