‘If we had hit Alpha Centauri that arrangement would have been good, but as we are, it isn’t.’ Garlock frowned in thought, his heavy black eyebrows almost meeting above his finely-chiseled, acquiline nose. ‘Since neither Jim nor I need an assistant any more than we need tails, it was designed to give you girls something to do. But out here, lost, there’s work for a dozen trained specialists and there are only four of us. So we shouldn’t duplicate effort. Right? You first, Belle.’
‘Are you asking me or telling me?’ she asked. ‘And that’s a fair question; don’t read anything into it that isn’t there. With your attitude, I want information.’
‘I am asking you,’ he replied, carefully. ‘For your information, when I know what should be done, I give orders. When I don’t know, as now, I ask advice. If I like it, I follow it Fair enough?’
‘Fair enough. We’re apt to need any number of specialists.’ ‘Lola?’
‘Of course we shouldn’t duplicate. What shall I study?’ “That’s what we’ll have to figure out. We can’t do it exactly, of course; all we can do now is set up a rough scheme. Jim’s job is the only one that’s definite. He’ll have to work full time on nebular configurations. If we hit inhabited planets he’ll have to add their star-charts to his own. That leaves three of us to do all the other work of a survey. Ideally, we would cover all
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the factors that would be of use in getting us back to Tellus, but since we don’t know what those factors are… Found out anything yet, Jim?’
‘A little. It’s a Tellus-type planet, apparently strictly so. Oceans and continents. Lots of inhabitants – farms, villages, all sizes of cities. We’re not close enough to say definitely, but the inhabitants seem to be humanoid, if not human.’
‘Hold her here. Besides astronomy, which is all yours, what do we need most?’
‘We should have enough to classify planets and inhabitants, so as to chart a space-trend if there is any. I’d say the most important ones would be geology, stratigraphy, paleontology, oceanography, xenology, anthropology, ethnology, vertebrate biology, botany, and at least some ecology.’
That’s about the list I was afraid of. But there are only three of us.’
‘Each of you will have to be a lot of specialists in one, then. I’d say the best split would be planetology, xenology, and anthropology – each, of course, stretched all out of shape to cover a dozen related and non-related specialities.’
‘Good enough. Xenology, of course, is mine. Contacts, liaison, politics, correlation, and so on, as well as studying the non-human life forms – including as many lower animals and plants as possible. I’ll make a stab at it. Now, Belle, since you’re a Prime and Lola’s an Operator, you get the next toughest job. Planetography.’
‘Why not?’ Belle smiled and began to act as one of the party. ‘All I know about it is a hazy idea of what the word means, but I’ll start studying as soon as we get squared away.’
‘Fine. That leaves anthropology to you, Lola. Besides, that’s your line, isn’t it?’
‘Yes. Sociological Anthropology. I have my M.S. in it, and I was working for my Ph.D. But as Jim said, it isn’t only the one specialty. You want me, I take it, to cover humanoid races, too.’
‘Check. You and Jim both, then, will know what you’re doing, while Belle and I are trying to play ours by ear.’
‘Where do we draw the line between humanoid and non-human?’
‘In case of doubt we’ll confer. That covers it as much as we 16
can, I think. Take us down, Jim – and be on your toes to take evasive action fast.’
The ship dropped rapidly toward an airport just outside a fairly large city. Fifty thousand – forty thousand – thirty thousand feet.
Then a thought-message touched their minds: ‘Calling strange spaceship – you must be a spaceship, in spite of your incredible mass. Do you read me?’
‘I read you clearly. This is the spaceship Pleiades, home planet Tellus, Captain Garlock commanding, asking permission to land and information as to landing conventions.’ He did not have to tell James to stop the ship; James had already
done so.
‘I was about to ask you to hold position; I thank you for having done so. Hold for inspection and type-test, please. We will not blast unless you fire first A few minutes, please.’
A group of twelve jet fighters took off practically vertically upward and climbed with fantastic speed. They leveled off a thousand feet below the Pleiades and made a flying circle. Up and into the ring thus formed there lumbered a large, clumsy-looking helicopter.
‘We have no record of any planet named “Tellus”; nor of any such ship as yours. Of such incredible mass and with no visible or detectable means of support or of propulsion. Not from this part of the galaxy, certainly … could it be that intergalactic travel is actually possible? But excuse me, Captain Garlock, none of that is any of my business – which is to determine whether or not you four human beings are compatible with, and thus acceptable to, our humanity of Hodell… But you do not seem to have a standard televideo testing-box aboard.”
‘No, sir; only our own tri-di and teevee.’ ‘You must be examined by means of a standard box. I will rise to your level and teleport one across to you. It is self-powered and fully Automatic.’
‘You needn’t rise sir. Just toss the box out of your ‘copter into the air. We’ll take it from there.’ Then, to James: Take it, Jim.’
‘Oh? You can lift large masses against much gravity?’ The alien was all attention. ‘I have not know that such power
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existed. I will observe with keen interest.’ ‘I have it,’ James said. ‘Here it is.’
‘Thank you, sir,’ Garlock said to the alien. Then, to Lola; *You’ve been reading these – these Hodellians?’
‘The officer in the helicopter and those in the fighters, yes. Most of them are Gunther Firsts.’ ‘Good girl. The set’s coming to life – watch it.’
The likeness of the alien being became clear upon the screen, visible from the waist up. While humanoid, the creature was very far indeed from being human. He – at least, it had masculine rudimentary nipples – had double shoulders and four arms. His skin was vividly intense cobalt blue. His ears were black, long, and highly dirigible. His eyes, a flaming red in color, were large and vertically slitted, like a cat’s. He had no hair at all. His nose was large and Roman; his jaw was square, almost jutting; his bright yellow teeth were clean and sharp.
After a minute of study the alien said, ‘Although your vessel is so entirely alien that nothing even remotely like it is on record, you four are completely human and, if of compatible type, acceptable. Are there any other living beings aboard with you?’
‘Excepting micro-organisms, none.’
‘Such life is of no importance. Approach, please, one of you, and grasp with a hand the projecting metal knob.’
With a little trepidation, Garlock did so. He felt no unusual sensation at the contact.
‘All four of you are compatible and we accept you. This finding is surprising in the extreme, as you are the first human beings of record who grade higher than what you call Gunther Two … or Gunther Second?’
‘Either one; the terms are interchangeable.’
‘You have minds of tremendous development and power; definitely superior even to my own. However, there is no doubt that physically you are perfectly compatible with our humanity. Your blood will be of great benefit to it. You may land. Goodbye.’
‘Wait, please. How about landing conventions? And visiting restrictions and so on? And may we keep this box? We will be glad to trade you something for it, if we have anything you would like to have.’
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‘Ah, I should have realized that our customs would be widely different from ours. Since you have been examined and accepted, there are no restrictions – you will not act against humanity’s good. Land where you please, go where you please, do what you please, for as long as you please. Take up permanent residence or leave as soon as you please. Marry if you like, or simply breed – your unions with this planet’s humanity will be fertile. Keep the box without payment. As Guardians of Humanity we Arpalones do whatever small favors we can. Have I been clear?’ ‘Abundantly so. Thank you, sir.” ‘Now I really must go. Goodbye.’
Garlock glanced into his plate. The jets had disappeared, and the helicopter was falling rapidly away. He wiped his brow.
‘Well, I’ll be damned,’ he said. ‘Damned and blasted,’ Belle agreed. ‘Make it three damns – in spades,’ said James. And Lola just sat speechless, staring at the rapidly-vanishing helicopter.