“We’ll be there,” Conway said, smiling at the eagerness in the other’s voice.
Fletcher wanted to look at the inside of that wrecked ship just as badly as
Conway wanted to investigate the internal workings of its crew. And if there
were survivors, Rhabwar would shortly be engaged in conducting another medial
first contact with all the hidden problems, both clinical and cultural, which
that implied.
Fletcher’s eagerness was underlined by the fact that he rather than Dodds took
the vehicle down and landed it in a ridiculously
small area of flat sand within one hundred meters of the wreck. From the surface
the wind-eroded rock outcroppings looked higher, sharper, and much more
dangerous, but the sandstorm had died down to a stiff breeze which lifted the
grains no more than a few feet above the ground. From the orbiting Rhabwar,
Haslam reported occasional wind flurries passing through their area which might
briefly inconvenience them.
One of the flurries struck while they were helping Naydrad unload the litter, a
bulky vehicle whose pressure envelope was capable of reproducing the gravity,
pressure, and atmosphere requirements of most of the known life-forms. Gravity
nullifiers compensated for the litter’s considerable weight, making it easily
manageable by one person, but when the sudden wind caught it, Naydrad, Dodds,
and Conway had to throw themselves across it to keep it from blowing away.
“Sorry about this,” Lieutenant Dodds said, as if by studying the available
information on the planet he was somehow responsible for its misdemeanors. “It
is about two hours before local midday here, and the wind usually dies down by
now. It remains calm until just before sunset, and again in the middle of the
night when there is a severe drop in temperature. The sandstorms after sunset
and before dawn are very bad and last for three to five hours, when outside work
would be very dangerous. Work during the night lull is possible but
inadvisable. The local animal life is small arid omnivorous, but those thorn
carpets on the slope over there have a degree of mobility and have to be
watched, especially at night. I’d estimate five hours of daylight calm to
complete the rescue. If it takes longer than that, it would be better to spend
the night on Rhabwar and come back tomorrow.”
As the Lieutenant was speaking, the wind died again so that they were able to
see the wreck, the dark objects scattered around it, and the harsh, arid
landscape shimmering in the heat. Five hours should be more than enough to ferry
up the casualties to Rhabwar for preliminary treatment. Anything done for then)
down here would be done quickly, simple first aid.
“Did they bother to name this Godforsaken planet?” the Captain asked, stepping
down from the lander’s airlock.
Dodds hesitated, then said, “Trugdil, sir.”
Fletcher’s eyebrows rose, Murchison laughed, and they could
see agitated movements of Naydrad’s fur under its lightweight suit. It was the
Kelgian who spoke first.
“The trugdil,” it said, “is a species of Kelgian rodent with the particularly
nasty habit of—”
“I know,” the astrogator said quickly. “But it was a Kelgian-crewed Monitor
Corps scoutship which made the discovery. In the Corps it is customary for the
Captain of the discovering ship to give his, her, or its name to the world which
has been found. But in this instance the officer waived the right and offered it
to his subordinates in turn, all of whom likewise refused to give their names to
the planet. Judging by the name it ended with, they didn’t think much of the
place either. There was another case when—”
“Interesting,” Conway said quietly, “but we’re wasting time. Prilicla?”
Through his helmet phones, the empath’s voice replied at once. “I hear you,
friend Conway. Lieutenant Haslam is relaying an overall picture of the area to
me through the telescope, and your helmet vision pickups enable me to see all
that you see. Standing by’.”
“Very good,” Conway said. To the others he went on, “Naydrad will accompany me
with the litter. The rest of you split up and take a quick look at the other
casualties. If any of them are moving, or there are indications of recent