Kaiser felt suddenly weary. He lay on the scout's bunk and tried
to sleep. Soon he was in that phantasm land between sleep and
wakefulness--he knew he was not sleeping, yet he did dream.
It was the same dream he had had many times before. In it, he was back
home again, the home he had joined the space service to escape. He had
realized soon after his marriage that his wife, Helene, did not love
him. She had married him for the security his pay check provided. And
though it soon became evident that she, too, regretted her bargain,
she would not divorce him. Instead, she had her revenge on him by
persistent nagging, by letting herself grow fat and querulous, and by
caring for their house only in a slovenly way.
Her crippled brother had moved in with them the day they were married.
His mind was as crippled as his body and he took an unhealthy delight
in helping his sister torment Kaiser.
* * * * *
Kaiser came wide awake in a cold sweat. The clock showed that only an
hour had passed since he had sent his last message to the ship. Still
five more long hours to wait. He rose and wiped the sweat from his neck
and shoulders and restlessly paced the small corridor of the scout.
After a few minutes, he stopped pacing and peered out into the gloom of
Big Muddy. The rain seemed to have eased off some. Not much more than a
heavy drizzle now.
Kaiser reached impulsively for the slicker he had thrown over a chest
against one wall and put it on, then a pair of hip-high plastic boots
and a plastic hat. He opened the door. The scout had come to rest with
a slight tilt when it crashed, and Kaiser had to sit down and roll
over onto his stomach to ease himself to the ground.
The weather outside was normal for Big Muddy: wet, humid, and warm.
Kaiser sank to his ankles in soft mud before his feet reached solid
ground. He half walked and half slid to the rear of the scout. Beside
the ship, the "octopus" was busily at work. Tentacles and antennae,
extending from the yard-high box of its body, tested and recorded
temperature, atmosphere, soil, and all other pertinent planetary
conditions. The octopus was connected to the ship's communicator and
all its findings were being transmitted to the mother ship for study.
Kaiser observed that it was working well and turned toward a wide,
sluggish river, perhaps two hundred yards from the scout. Once there,
he headed upstream. He could hear the pipings, and now and then a
higher whistling, of the seal-people before he reached a bend and saw
them. As usual, most were swimming in the river.
One old fellow, whose chocolate-brown fur showed a heavy intermixture
of gray, was sitting on the bank of the river just at the bend. Perhaps
a lookout. He pulled himself to his feet as he spied Kaiser and his
toothless, hard-gummed mouth opened and emitted a long whistle that
might have been a greeting--or a warning to the others that a stranger
approached.
The native stood perhaps five feet tall, with the heavy, blubbery
body of a seal, and short, thick arms. Membranes connected the arms
to his body from shoulder-pits to mid-biceps. The arms ended in
three-fingered, thumbless hands. His legs also were short and thick,
with footpads that splayed out at forty-five-degree angles. They gave
his legs the appearance of a split tail. About him hung a rank-fish
smell that made Kaiser's stomach squirm.
The old fellow sounded a cheerful chirp as Kaiser came near. Feeling
slightly ineffectual, Kaiser raised both hands and held them palm
forward. The other chirped again and Kaiser went on toward the main
group.
* * * * *
They had stopped their play and eating as Kaiser approached and now
most of them swam in to shore and stood in the water, staring and
piping. They varied in size from small seal-pups to full-grown adults.
Some chewed on bunches of water weed, which they manipulated with their
lips and drew into their mouths.
They had mammalian characteristics, Kaiser had noted before, so it
was not difficult to distinguish the females from the males. The
proportion was roughly fifty-fifty.
Several of the bolder males climbed up beside Kaiser and began pawing
his plastic clothing. Kaiser stood still and tried to keep his
breathing shallow, for their odor was almost more than he could bear.
One native smeared Kaiser's face with an exploring paw and Kaiser
gagged and pushed him roughly away. He was bound by regulations to
display no hostility to newly discovered natives, but he couldn't take
much more of this.
A young female splashed water on two young males who stood near and
they turned with shrill pipings and chased her into the water. The
entire group seemed to lose interest in Kaiser and joined in the chase,
or went back to other diversions of their own. Kaiser's inspectors
followed.
They were a mindless lot, Kaiser observed. The river supplied them with
an easy existence, with food and living space, and apparently they had
few natural enemies.
Kaiser walked away, following the long slow bend of the river, and
came to a collection of perhaps two hundred dwellings built in three
haphazard rows along the river bank. He took time to study their
construction more closely this time.
They were all round domes, little more than the height of a man, built
of blocks that appeared to be mud, packed with river weed and sand. How
they were able to dry these to give them the necessary solidity, Kaiser
did not know. He had found no signs that they knew how to use fire, and
all apparent evidence was against their having it. They then had to
have sunlight. Maybe it rained less during certain seasons.
The domes' construction was based on a series of four arches built in a
circle. When the base covering the periphery had been laid, four others
were built on and between them, and continued in successive tiers until
the top was reached. Each tier thus furnished support for the next
above. No other framework was needed. The final tier formed the roof.
They made sound shelters, but Kaiser had peered into several and found
them dark and dank--and as smelly as the natives themselves.
The few loungers in the village paid little attention to Kaiser and
he wandered through the irregular streets until he became bored and
returned to the scout.
The _Soscites II_ sent little that helped during the next twelve hours
and Kaiser occupied his time trying again to repair the damage to the
scout.
The job appeared maddeningly simply. As the scout had glided in for
a soft landing, its metal bottom had ridden a concealed rock and bent
inward. The bent metal had carried up with it the tube supplying the
fuel pump and flattened it against the motor casing.
* * * * *
Opening the tube again would not have been difficult, but first it had
to be freed from under the ship. Kaiser had tried forcing the sheet
metal back into place with a small crowbar--the best leverage he had on
hand--but it resisted his best efforts. He still could think of no way
to do the job, simple as it was, though he gave his concentration to it
the rest of the day.
That evening, Kaiser received information from the _Soscites II_ that
was at least definite:
SET YOURSELF FOR A SHOCK, SMOKY. SAM FINALLY CAME THROUGH. YOU
WON'T LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR. AT LEAST NOT AT FIRST. BUT IT COULD BE
WORSE. YOU HAVE BEEN INVADED BY A SYMBIOTE--SIMILAR TO THE TYPE
FOUND ON THE SAND WORLD, BARTEL-BLEETHERS. GIVE US A FEW MORE HOURS
TO WORK WITH SAM AND WE'LL GET YOU ALL THE PARTICULARS HE CAN GIVE
US. HANG ON NOW!