"Pretty hard for one man to manage a takeoff. He was lucky to make it
into orbit."
"I just wish he would come down. Somehow, someway, I'd get to him, no
matter where he went on this planet."
"I suppose that's why he stays up."
Ellik slammed his fist into his palm. "I'm going to call him again. He
can't get away without us. If he fouled up a takeoff that badly, he's
not going to try to solo into hyperspace."
"I don't think anyone would solo into hyperspace. I don't think he
would be able to come back."
"Oh, what do you know about it?" Ellik said shortly. "He's just
building up his courage to try the big jump. He's yellow, sure, but
sooner or later he'll get desperate enough, or scared enough, to
actually go. Then we'll be stranded for fair. This planet may not be
colonized for centuries!"
"Probably never," I said. "Not after Lee's reports."
"You think he would falsify reports?" Ellik asked, blinking at me.
"I suppose he'll have to."
Ellik held his head with his hands. "Of course, of course. There's no
limit to the depths to which he would plummet." He ran over to the
corner and snatched a communicator off the pile of our gear. "I'm going
to call him and tell him what I think of him and his wild obsession."
I didn't remind Ellik that he had been telling Chon just that at least
once a day for a month. I knew his nerves got tighter and tighter and
cussing out Chon helped release them and make him feel better.
"Come down, Lee!" Ellik called. "The three of us can make the jump
together. You're martyring yourself for a crazy reason!"
"We've talked this over before," Chon answered. "This is the last time
I'm going to respond to your call. I've made it clear to you that I
think knowledge of this world will cause great suffering, a lot of
death, among the majority of Earth's people."
"You're talking prejudice, Lee! _Your_ prejudice. People aren't like
that any more."
"We haven't gone _that_ far, Mike. The bigots, the hatemongers, the
pettiness and xenophobia lurking in everybody haven't been asleep
that long. Just look at it from _my_ side, Mike. What will the white
people of Earth think about the Orientals, Negroes and Indians of
Earth when they find out the dark-skinned humanoids of another
planet are--measurably, unquestionably, vastly--_inferior_ to the
light-skinned race of the same world? I ask you, Mike!"
* * * * *