III

It was when you stepped outside the cluster of prefab units that made

up headquarters, Roy Auckland thought, that you really knew you were on

an alien world. He didn't feel much lighter, but there was a springy

feeling underfoot, and it seemed as if the mossy ground-covering was

propelling him into the air. His blood tingled.

And the air--not much different from Earth chemically, they said, but

he smelled something that reminded him of apple-blossoms. And when the

light breeze blew, he got a whiff of something that reminded him of the

months he'd spent in the tropics as a student. The planet Carolus was

almost vertical on its axis, which meant that seasonal variations would

be small.

He followed Burleigh to the crawler and stood beside it, looking back

at the severely functional headquarters unit, laid out like a letter

"I". Calvin Burleigh took out his pipe and followed Auckland's gaze.

"Not exactly artistic," he said, "but not too bad. The dull, gray

finish stands out amidst all the greenery without looking like too much

of an intruder, though I haven't seen that shade of gray anywhere else

here."

"Plenty of greenery," Auckland agreed. "And I suppose somewhere on this

planet there's grass or trees or shrubbery the shade of green that

looks right to an Earthman. All I can see is a bit too yellow, too

white, or too blue to be my idea of vegetation--where it isn't some

tone of red instead." His eyes narrowed as he fixed the layout of the

building in his mind. "You know, whoever designed this was a genius at

avoiding convenient arrangements."

Burleigh smiled faintly as he lit his pipe. "Tired of having to take

a walk to the shower room? At least we all have our own sanitary

equipment." He held the match in his hand, as if uncertain whether

it would set fire to the moss, then let it drop. "Well, I'm more

fortunate. At least I don't have to step outside to get to the kitchen,

rec-room, or office."

Auckland nodded. "You and Edholm at the upper end, and Ken and Shirley

at the lower end have doors connecting with the three rooms in the

shaft. The lab's like the shower rooms, inaccessible to any others. Doc

James and I have no connections with any other rooms at all."

"And everyone has to hike to the storage sheds.... Well, the weather

here's pretty good, although there are sand storms out in the desert

where we're heading. Up here, though, we just get ordinary rains

and moderate winds. It won't be much different in winter; hardly

noticeable, I'd say."

"We all have ample windows with shutters, and none of them look on to

each other. I suppose that's something to be grateful for."

"Except for the lab. Anyone in the lab can look into James' quarters,

if he hasn't closed his shutters. And each room has its own individual

power unit for light and heat, so it's almost impossible for the entire

building to be blacked out by any accident."

Shirley emerged from her room wearing shorts, and Ekem-ve followed.

Auckland sat beside her, in back, trying to fix the various inter-room

connections in his mind. Each room was accessible to any of the others

via the intercoms, but the important thing was that someone watching

the single door to the James's quarters could tell if anyone tried to

slip in there. Which might be an important point if things were shaping

up as Dr. Howard James suspected.

Something like a bumblebee buzzed by the crawler. Auckland ducked

instinctively, and Burleigh chuckled. "Don't worry about them. A couple

of us got mild bee-stings--they're not really bees, of course, but

fairly close to them, and they act a lot like Earth-type bees--but they

weren't much worse than mosquito bites. The insects haven't bothered us

at all since the first week or so, and Glamis never had to worry about

them at all, since he wears that suit every time he goes outside in

daylight.

"Now there's something for you to look into. I know you're no

entomologist, but we suspect that the Vaec control them in some way."

He took a cigarette from his case and passed it around. "Carolus is

going to be a fascinating field for ecologists, by the way. We've seen

only two kinds of insects: the 'bees' and a kind of praying mantis

thing which keeps them down. Nothing of what you'd call pestiferous

insects at all, very few birds or animals--the last two keep away from

our vicinity.

"Plant life is abundant--" he indicated the outcroppings of flowers,

shrubs, and occasional trees that resembled weeping willows in

bloom--"and seems to have been arrayed in a sort of order. You don't

find fruit or nut trees in amongst the willows, and that goes for the

flowers, too. Whatever sort you want to find, you've got to look for a

group. Oh, they're not bunched together--what I mean is, you'll never

find just one willow, say, in an area that has other kinds of trees."

Auckland nodded as they started out and noticed that the

indentations made by the crawler were soon lost. It was as if

the--grass-moss?--pulled itself in just before being crushed then

gradually rose again. Which meant that it was almost hopeless to look

for footprints if the occasion ever arose; he'd seen very few bits of

bare ground with its faintly violet soil.

"I boned up on Carolus before I came," he said, "but there doesn't seem

to be much information on the planet."

"There isn't," said Shirley. "After all we're only the third group of

visiting humans. Leitfred discovered two planets in this system which

would be suitable for occupation, and named them after early Anglican

martyrs: Carolus, who was a king, I think, and Laud--wasn't he a

cardinal?"

"Archbishop," corrected Burleigh. "This was back in the days when the

church was all split up into sects and the various rites weren't in

communion with each other. Virtual warfare between them at times."

The terrain was reasonably smooth, though far from flat, and seemed to

have a general incline. Despite the lack of bumps, crawler-riding was

hardly comfortable, Auckland thought. Well, at least the top was down.

"Well," Shirley went on, "Leitfred established relations with the

Vaec and his report made Planet Control decide that there would be no

colonization until we learned more about them. Leitfred considered them

primitives, but others didn't agree."

"Ah, yes," broke in Auckland, then stopped himself and looked

embarrassedly at Ekem-ve. "This isn't very polite, I'm afraid."

The Carolinian's hair waved slightly. "No need for apology, excellent

Roy. Humble native have no pride of culture. We were in fact greatly

pleased that excellent Jonas--" Auckland blinked then realized that he

was talking about Leitfred "--taught us fascinating language of Earth

people. Far more interesting than Vaec tongue, so with humble joy we

adopt same for ourselves by generous permission of excellent visitors."

"That was when Dr. James came back with Leitfred's second expedition,"

Burleigh said. "He persuaded Leitfred to stop here for a little

while--Leitfred was en route to another system--to test his theory that

the Vaec weren't really natives of Carolus, but were descendants of a

race that had established a colony here in the distant past. The Old

Martian records mention a star-empire which they discovered when they

went traveling in space, and James thinks that the Vaec are remnants of

it."

"Excellent Howard inquire of us about old-time Vaec history, but we

unable to tell much." Auckland frowned, wondering why Ekem-ve lapsed

into this sort of diction every now and then, when he could speak as

good English (allowing for differences in thought-patterns) as any of

them. "Long time, Vaec find history poverty-stricken in mirth. We show

excellent Howard some furniture from old-time dwellings."

"James tried to find traces of an earlier civilization here," Burleigh

continued. "But he couldn't find any in the time he had. Took him

nearly ten years after returning to Earth to convince Planet Control

that something might be found, due to Vaec references to what might be

considered a buried city in the desert."

"Great was our distress," said Ekem-ve, "that we could not assist

excellent Howard at that time, for we could see that much mirth would

attend his finding of same. While we wait for excellent Earth people to

honor us with further visit, we look around planet ourselves. What joy

that we are able to help excellent Howard now."

The crawler was passing a stream which made a wide pool at this point.

A lone Carolinian was sitting on a rock, fishing, with some sort of

container beside him. Ekem-ve said, "May we not pause, excellent

Calvin, and observe Syeltan in his unawareness?" The Vaec's hair was

now waving a little more vigorously.

"Afraid not, Ekem-ve. There may be mirth to spare out at the diggings.

We have to get there before we miss it." He explained the hidden bomb,

avoiding any hint of intent to harm the victim. "What sort of joke is

being played on Syeltan?"

"Every day, Syeltan fish in pool for time-space of three baits. He

uses _vlagin_ nut for bait, that the fish may have a fair chance

for happy feed and escape. It occurred to this dull person that the

pop-ball resembles _vlagin_ nut if slight operation be made. So this

one performs operation and secretes pop-ball among bait. When Syeltan

intrudes hook into disguised pop-ball...." He broke off, and his hair

looped wildly.

"What happens then?" asked Auckland.

"Ball makes loud pop and perhaps startles Syeltan into pool. Juice from

pop-ball splatters all over Syeltan, covering him with red splotches.

Juice very tenacious, does not like to leave what it touches. Syeltan

wear juice for long time. Will know when he pops ball, but extra mirth

if can see him do it."

"Oh, you put the pop-ball in his bait last night?" asked Auckland.

"Oh no. Secrete pop-ball when Syeltan fill container four months ago,

as excellent Earth people say. Bait last for exactly fifteen more days,

as even this short-thinking person realize that number of bait must

remain the same. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow. Every day, this one comes

to watch."

"Heavens," said Shirley. "To wait nearly five months to see if a

practical joke comes off! But Ekem-ve, suppose he drops the pop-ball

into the water accidentally, or recognizes it despite your skill?"

"Long joke make for most exquisite mirth, excellent Shirley. If ball is

lost, then this person must try again. If discovered, then this person

is caught on own vine."

"They lay sticky traps for each other," Burleigh explained. "When one

of them discovers a trap--custom decrees that it be identifiable as the

work of a particular person--he moves it to another spot where the one

who made the trap may step into it. Next to being the perpetrator of

a joke, the Vaec consider it most mirthful to be caught in one's own

trap. These vines aren't harmful, but they're hard to get off once

they stick to you. And there doesn't ever seem to be hard feelings

when a joke comes off, either on the victim or rebounding on the

perpetrator."

"Of course no hard feelings. Mirth too precious to be spoiled by

overestimation of self."

And if a Vaec didn't realize that the _dodlig_ would lose most of its

odor when mixed with James's soup, thought Auckland, he'd think it a

first-class joke. He remembered how he had walked into a sticky trap

himself, the first day he was out alone. He'd managed to remove all

traces of it before he returned to camp, and none of the Carolinians

had referred to it since.

Yes, might not some native have reasoned that James would open the

thermos and--_phew_! No danger of him eating it, and they all knew it

would take only a little while to replace the lunch.

Burleigh's comment answered the question he was about to ask. "They've

pulled things on all of us, too, but they seem to realize that we don't

find some of the more undignified jokes they play on each other as

funny. I must say that they haven't overstepped the bounds."

Before he could pursue the thought any farther, Shirley broke in.

"We're coming to the rise now, Roy. You'll see the desert from the top

of it."

They were out of sight of the pool now, where Syeltan still sat

fishing. Their last glimpse of him caught him in the act of pulling

his empty hook out of the water and putting his hand into the

bait-container. Auckland felt a twinge of sympathy for Ekem-ve, along

with admiration for his patience and stoicism. The Vaec didn't seem put

out at all by such disappointments.

Now the crawler was at the top of a plateau. They turned and headed

for an edge where the slope was fairly gentle. As they passed the rim,

Auckland gasped at the sight of what looked like an expanse of pure

gold, in mounds and hills and flat stretches much like the Sahara.

"Put on your desert glasses," said Shirley as she donned hers. "Five

minutes or less looking at that without filters and you'll find that

snow-blindness is mild by comparison."

He obeyed sheepishly, as they'd told him about this before. The beauty

of the scene remained even when the glare had diminished. "I wonder how

Leitfred could have missed this, or failed to have mentioned it," he

said.

"Didn't land in this part of the planet," Burleigh explained. "Talks

with the natives seemed to indicate that there was a desert where the

original settlements had been. But that was during the second trip.

Ekem-ve assured James that the Vaec would be happy to help if we wanted

to send out an expedition." He mused for a moment as the crawler

started down the incline. "Ekem-ve and his clan migrated thousands of

miles and resettled, in order to be here when we came back."

"They must have very long lives," said Auckland. "Ekem-ve and the

others were here when Leitfred first landed, and the Vaec don't seem to

show signs of aging."

"There're the diggings, Roy," said Shirley.

Auckland could see tents, machinery, and a large group of people

standing or sitting around the excavation.

"Archaeology is slow work," sighed Burleigh. "Even with modern

excavators which make for fewer aching backs and risk of damage to

buried objects."

"How many Vaec assistants do you have?"

"About twenty are all we need at a time. They take shifts, each putting

in three days at a stretch. We've been here about four months now, and

we're ahead of Doc's timetable. But now...."

A dull, booming sound came to them.

Burleigh turned to Auckland, his face suddenly pale. "Lord, Doc was

right. It sounds as if someone _did_ plant an explosive in that room."