technical, and you might as well have been talking untranslated Kelgian so far
as I was concerned.”
Conway laughed quietly and said, “Then I had better translate.”
The alien vessel had released, its distress beacon, he explained, not because
of a technical malfunction but because of serious illness on board which had
affected the entire crew. Presumably the least affected crew members were on
duty on the Control Deck while the rest were confined to their hammocks. It was
still not clear why the ship had to put down on a planet. Possibly there were
physiological reasons why a planetary gravity or atmosphere was needed, or
maybe the weightless conditions on board aggravated the condition and they
could not provide artificial gravity by using their thrusters because the crew
were fast losing consciousness. Whatever the reason they had made an emergency
landing on Trugdil. There
were much better landing sites on the planet, but their degree of urgency must
have been extreme and they had landed here.
Conway broke off as they entered the Control Deck because Murchison was high
above them closing the personnel hatch. She said, “Don’t let me interrupt you,
but now that we will be using the cutting torches in a confined space, I’m going
to take the patient off pure oxygen. It seems to be breathing easily now. Would
one part oxygen to four inert.be suitable, Doctor?”
“Fine,” Conway said. “I’ll help you.”
The hissing of sand against the outer hull rose suddenly and the whole ship
seemed to lurch sideways. There was a screeching and banging sound from
amidships, which halted suddenly as a section of hull plating tore free and blew
away.
“A piece of the wreck has blown away,” Dodds reported unnecessarily, then went
on, “The thorn patches have halted over the food containers, and those nearby
are converging on the area. But there are other large clumps off to the side
which are still heading directly for the wreck. They are moving quite fast. The
wind is behind them and they are letting it carry them forward using only enough
of their root system to maintain a loose hold on the ground. At this rate they
could be at the ship in half an hour.”
It was as if an enormous, soft pillow struck the side of the ship. The deck
tilted under their feet, then righted itself. This time it sounded as if maniacs
with sledgehammers were attacking three different sections of the hull until, a
few seconds later, the banging ceased. But to the sound of the sand beating
against the hull plating was added the discordant moaning and whistling of the
wind as it forced its way into the wreck.
“Our defenses,” the Captain said worriedly, “have become decidedly porous. But
go on, Doctor.”
“The ship made an emergency landing here,” Conway resumed, “because they had no
time to look for a better spot. It was a good landing, all things considered,
and it was sheer bad luck that they toppled and as a result ruptured that
hydraulic reservoir. If they hadn’t done so it is possible that their illness,
whatever the cause, would have run its course and in time they would have taken
off again. Or maybe the first sandstorm would have knocked them over anyway. But
instead they crash-landed and found themselves suddenly in a wreck which was
rapidly
filling with toxic fumes. Weakened by their condition as they were, they had to
get out fast and, because the escape routes aft led past the source of the
contaminant and were partly blocked by wreckage from the fall, they had to
evacuate through the Control Deck here and along the upper surface of the hull,
then slide to the ground.
“They injured themselves very seriously in doing so,” Con-way added.
He paused for a moment to help Murchison change over the patient’s air supply.
From the stern there was a clanking sound which reverberated steadily and
monotonously throughout the ship. One of the pieces of wreckage was refusing to
become detached. Conway raised his voice.
“The reason they did not move far from their ship was probably two-fold,” he
continued. “As a result of the debilitating effects of their illness, they did