required an enormous amount of prior design work, planning and tooling long
before the first simple parts and subas-semblies could become three-dimensional
metal on someone^s workbench. The number of detail and assembly drawings,
wiring diagrams, and so on for even a small spaceship was mind-staggering, and
the purpose of all this paperwork was simply to instruct beings of average
intelligence how to manufacture and fit together the pieces of the jigsaw
without knowing, or perhaps even caring, anything about the completed picture.
If normal Earth-human, Tralthan, Illensan, and Melfan practice was observed—and
the engineers of those races and many others insisted that there was no easier
way—then those drawings and the components they described must include
instructions, identifying symbols, to guide the builders in the correct placing
of these parts within the jigsaw.
Possibly there were extraterrestrial species which used more exotic methods of
identifying components before assembly, such as tagging each part with an
olfactory or tactile coding system, but this, considering the tremendous size of
the coil ship and the number of parts to be identified and joined, would
represent a totally unnecessary complication unless there were physiological
reasons for doing things the hard way.
The cadaver had possessed eyes which operated within the normal visible
spectrum, and Captain Fletcher was sure that the alien shipbuilders would do
things the easy way by marking the surface of the components with identifying
symbols which could be read at a glance. Following a detailed examination of a
damaged suspended animation cylinder and the remains of its supporting
framework, Fletcher found that the system of identification used was groups of
symbols vibro-etched into the metal, and that adjoining components bore the same
type and sequence of symbols except for the final letter or number. “Clearly
they think, and put their spaceships together, much the same as we do,” Conway
concluded.
“I see,” the Colonel said. He sat forward in his chair. “But decoding those
symbols and fitting the parts .together will take a lot of time.”
“Or a lot of extra help,” Conway said. Skempton sat back, shaking his head.
Thornnastor was silent also, but the slow, impatient thumping of its massive
feet indicated that it was not likely to remain so for long. It was O’Mara who
spoke first.
“What assistance will you need, Doctor?” Conway looked gratefully at the Chief
Psychologist for getting straight to the point as well as for the implied
support. But he knew that O’Mara would withdraw that support without hesitation
if he had the slightest doubt about Conway’s ability to handle the problem. If
Conway was to be confirmed in this assignment, he would have to convince O’Mara
that he knew exactly what he was doing. He cleared his throat.
“First,” he said, “we should initiate an immediate search for the vessel’s home
world so that we can learn as much as possible about this entity’s culture,
environment, and food requirements, as well as having somewhere to put it when
the rescue is complete. It is almost certain that the disaster caused a large
deviation in the coilship’s course, and it is possible that the vessel suffered
a guidance malfunction not associated with the accident which fragmented it, and
it has already overshot the target world. This would complicate the search and
increase the number of units conducting it.”
Before the Colonel could react, Conway went on quickly, “I also need a search of
the Federation Archives. For many centuries before the Federation came into
being there were species who possessed the startravel capability and did a lot
of independent exploration. There is a slight chance that one of them may have
encountered or heard reports of an entity resembling an intelligent Midgard
Serpent—”
He broke off, then for Thornnastor’s benefit he explained that the Midgard
Serpent was a creature of Earth-human mythology, an enormous snake which was
supposed to have encircled the planet with its tail in its mouth. Thornnastor
thanked him and expressed its relief that the being was mythological.
“Until now,” the Colonel said sourly.
“Second,” Conway went on, “comes the problem of rapid retrieval and placement of
the scattered suspended animation cylinders. Many more scoutships will be
required, supported by all of the available specialists in e-t languages and