Always make the opposition underestimate you.” I am surprised at your
knowledge of our history before the Roidhunate, Lieutenant,” the
Merseian said. “But then, considering that our pickets were ordered to
watch for a Terran scout, the pilot must be of special interest.”
“Oh, well,” Flandry said modestly.
“To answer your question, few bodies here are worth naming. Swarms of
asteroids, yes, but just four true planets, the smallest believed to be
a mere escaped satellite. Orbits are wildly skewed and eccentric. Our
astronomers theorize that early in the life of this system, another star
passed through, disrupting the normal configuration.”
Flandry studied the world growing before him. The ship had switched from
hyperdrive to sublight under gravs–so few KPS as to support the idea of
many large meteoroids. (They posed no hazard to a vessel which could
detect them in plenty of time to dodge, or could simply let them bounce
off a forcefield; but they would jeopardize the career of a skipper who
thus inelegantly wasted power.) Talwin’s crescent, blinding white,
blurred along the edges, indicated that, like Venus, it was entirely
clouded over. But it was not altogether featureless; spots and bands of
red could be seen.
“Looks none too promising,” he remarked. “Aren’t we almighty close to
the sun?”
“The planet is,” Tryntaf said. “It is late summer–everywhere; there is
hardly any axial tilt–and temperatures remain fierce. Dress lightly
before you disembark, Lieutenant! At periastron, Talwin comes within
0.87 astronomical units of Siekh; but apastron is at a full 2.62 a.u.”
Flandry whistled. “That’s as eccentric as I can remember ever hearing of
in a planet, if not more. Uh … about one-half, right?” He saw a chance
to appear less than a genius. “How can you survive? I mean, a good big
axial tilt would protect one hemisphere, at least, from the worst
effects of orbital extremes. But this ball, well, any life it may have
has got to be unlike yours or mine.”
“Wrong,” was Tryntafs foreseeable reply. “Atmosphere and hydrosphere
moderate the climate to a degree; likewise location. Those markings you
see are of biological origin, spores carried into the uppermost air.
Photosynthesis maintains a breathable oxynitrogen mixture.”
“Uh-h-h … diseases?” No, wait, now you’re acting too stupid. True,
what’s safe for a Merseian isn’t necessarily so for a man. We may have
extraordinarily similar biochemistries, but still, we’ve fewer bugs in
common that are dangerous to us than we have with our respective
domestic animals. By the same token, though, a world as different as
Talwin isn’t going to breed anything that’ll affect us … at least,
nothing that’ll produce any syndrome modern medicine can’t easily slap
down. Tryntaf knows I know that much. The thought had flashed through
Flandry in part of a second. “I mean allergens and other poisons.”
“Some. They cause no serious trouble. The bioform is basically akin to
ours, L-amino proteins in water solution. Deviations are frequent, of
course. But you or I could survive awhile on native foods, if we chose
them with care. Over an extended period we would need dietary
supplements. They have been compounded for emergency use.”
Flandry decided that Tryntaf lacked any sense of humor. Most Merseians
had one, sometimes gusty, sometimes cruel, often incomprehensible to
men. He had in his turn baffled various of them when he visited their
planet; even after he put a joke into their equivalents, they did not
see why it should be funny that one diner said, “Bon appétit” and the
other said, “Ginsberg.”
Sure. They differ, same as us. My life could depend on the personality
of the commandant down there. Will I be able to recognize any chance he
might give me?
He sought to probe his companion, but was soon left alone on grounds of
work to do, except for the close-mouthed rating who tail-sat by the
door.
Watching the view took his mind partly off his troubles. He could pick
up visual clues that a layman would be blind to, identify what they
represented, and conclude what the larger pattern must be.
Talwin had no moon–maybe once, but not after the invader star had
virtually wrecked this system. Flandry did see two relay satellites