"Yes. A-L-I-E-N! A never-before-contacted culture. That language you
were force fed on the way over, that's an alien language. It's not
complete ... all we have off the _minis_. And we excluded data on the
natives because we've been hoping to dump this project and nobody the
wiser."
"Holy mazoo!"
"Twenty-six days ago an I-A search ship came through here, had a routine
mini-sneaker look at the place. When he combed in his net of sneakers to
check the tapes and films, lo and behold, he had a little stranger."
"One of _theirs_?"
"No. It was a _mini_ off the _Delphinus Rediscovery_. The _Delphinus_
has been unreported for eighteen standard months!"
"Did it crack up here?"
"We don't know. If it did, we haven't been able to spot it. She was
supposed to be way off in the Balandine System by now. But we've
something else on our minds. It's the one item that makes me want to
blot out this place, and run home with my tail between my legs. We've
a--"
Again the call bell chimed.
"NOW WHAT?" roared Stetson into the speaker.
"I've got a _mini_ over that mob, Stet. They're talking about us. It's a
definite raiding party."
"What armament?"
"Too gloomy in that jungle to be sure. The infra beam's out on this
_mini_. Looks like hard pellet rifles of some kind. Might even be off
the _Delphinus_."
"Can't you get closer?"
"Wouldn't do any good. No light down there, and they're moving up fast."
"Keep an eye on them, but don't ignore the other sectors," said Stetson.
"You think I was born yesterday?" barked the voice from the grid. The
contact broke off with an angry sound.
* * * * *
"One thing I like about the I-A," said Stetson. "It collects such
even-tempered types." He looked at the white uniform on Orne, wiped a
hand across his mouth as though he'd tasted something dirty.
"Why _am_ I wearing this thing?" asked Orne.
"Disguise."
"But there's no mustache!"
Stetson smiled without humor. "That's one of I-A's answers to those
fat-keistered politicians. We're setting up our own search system to
find the planets before _they_ do. We've managed to put spies in key
places at R&R. Any touchy planets our spies report, we divert the
files."
"Then what?"
"Then we look into them with bright boys like you--disguised as R&R
field men."
"Goody, goody. And what happens if R&R stumbles onto me while I'm down
there playing patty cake?"
"We disown you."
"But you said an I-A ship found this joint."
"It did. And then one of our spies in R&R intercepted a _routine_
request for an agent-instructor to be assigned here with full equipment.
Request signed by a First-Contact officer name of Diston ... of the
_Delphinus_!"
"But the Del--"
"Yeah. Missing. The request was a forgery. Now you see why I'm mostly
for rubbing out this place. Who'd dare forge such a thing unless he knew
for sure that the original FC officer was missing ... or dead?"
"What the jumped up mazoo are we doing here, Stet?" asked Orne. "Alien
calls for a full contact team with all of the--"
"It calls for one planet-buster bomb ... buster--in five days. Unless
you give them a white bill in the meantime. High Commissioner Bullone
will have word of this planet by then. If Gienah III still exists in
five days, can't you imagine the fun the politicians'll have with it?
Mama mia! We want this planet cleared for contact or dead before then."
"I don't like this, Stet."
"YOU don't like it!"
"Look," said Orne. "There must be another way. Why ... when we teamed up
with the Alerinoids we gained five hundred years in the physical
sciences alone, not to mention the--"
"The Alerinoids didn't knock over one of our survey ships first."
"What if the _Delphinus_ just crashed here ... and the locals picked up
the pieces?"
"That's what you're going in to find out, Orne. But answer me this: If
they _do_ have the _Delphinus_, how long before a tool-using race could
be a threat to the galaxy?"
"I saw that city they built, Stet. They could be dug in within six
months, and there'd be no--"
"Yeah."
Orne shook his head. "But think of it: Two civilizations that matured
along different lines! Think of all the different ways we'd approach the
same problems ... the lever that'd give us for--"
"You sound like a Uni-Galacta lecture! Are you through marching arm in
arm into the misty future?"
Orne took a deep breath. "Why's a freshman like me being tossed into
this dish?"
"You'd still be on the _Delphinus_ master lists as an R&R field man.
That's important if you're masquerading."
"Am I the only one? I know I'm a recent _convert_, but--"
"You want out?"
"I didn't say that. I just want to know why I'm--"
"Because the bigdomes fed a set of requirements into one of their iron
monsters. Your card popped out. They were looking for somebody capable,
dependable ... and ... _expendable_!"
"Hey!"
"That's why I'm down here briefing you instead of sitting back on a
flagship. _I_ got you into the I-A. Now, you listen carefully: If you
push the panic button on this one without cause, I will personally flay
you alive. We both know the advantages of an alien contact. But if you
get into a hot spot, and call for help, I'll dive this cruiser into that
city to get you out!"