Standish left the glade with a heavy heart and returned to the space
ship. In the ravine, he made two discoveries. There was a spring of
clear water pouring from a fissure in the cliff side. Growing about it
was an edible variety of moss. Although he had concentrated food in the
liner's galley to keep him for a long time, these finds were reassuring.
He also found that the combination of the mineral soil and the two suns
affected growth tremendously. Planting a few dried kernels of corn,
he was amazed to see them take root almost instantly and reach full
maturity within a few hours.
He now set upon a task which he had been mulling over in his brain for
some time.
There were ray cannons mounted on the space liner's stern. Two of
these had broken muzzles, but the third was intact. Standish went down
into the bowels of the ship and found a dozen old message projectiles.
Cigar-shaped objects of heat-resisting corodite, these projectiles were
a part of all space crafts' emergency equipment. They were used for
distress signals when radio or visiscreen equipment failed.
In the hollow chamber of each of the twelve projectiles he placed the
same message:
Castaway. Mason Standish. Lieutenant-defense-engineer Earth.
On unknown planet, somewhere near Sirius-Earth Route.
December 28, 3020.
He had no means of astronomical calculation. So he aimed the gun at
twelve different points of the heavens and fired haphazardly. Chances
of intelligent life ever finding those projectiles were millions to one
against him. But whatever the odds, he must miss no opportunity.
Next he made a thorough survey of the wrecked liner, carrying all
usable objects to the forecastle, which swiftly took on the appearance
of a storage room. As these articles began to grow in number,
satisfaction and pride of ownership gripped him.
It was in the midst of these labors that he was suddenly struck with
an idea. Why not construct a space ship from the wrecked parts of the
liner? He had six atomic motors, and surely from their wreckage he
could salvage enough to build one of half the trajectory power. And
with a smaller ship, he might be able to find his way back to Earth.
Standish smoked a pipe over this. When morning came, he began the
herculean task of dismantling the motors. Day after day he struggled
with the cumbersome machinery. When this stage of the work was finally
completed, he was startled to discover that six weeks of Earth time had
slipped by.
He then found in the machinists' quarters an electrolic saw. The tool
was dull, but he managed to cut free a dozen girders for the framework
of his craft. To his dismay he found them too heavy to move even
with block and tackle. There was no alternative but to cut them into
sections and weld them together, hoping they would stand the strain.
That night the first warning of trouble came. Absently Standish had
noticed a chill in the air, a more oblique slant to the twin suns.
Suddenly from the jungle beyond the ravine came a low rumbling.
The Earthman switched on a searchlight he had fastened on top of the
forecastle. The white glare fastened itself on the wall of trees,
revealed five figures advancing directly into the light.
* * * * *
On all fours they came, huge beasts with long tapered bodies covered
with heavy white fur. Their heads resembled the saber-toothed tigers of
Earth's Upper Miocene.
A dozen appeared before Standish understood. This zone of the planet
was advancing into its cold season. The animals were part of a
migrating herd, coming down from the warmer districts.
He drew his genithode pistol and fired into their midst. The foremost
of the creatures keeled over, and the Earthman advanced boldly, firing
as he went. Here was fresh meat, and with winter coming on, he intended
to obtain as much of it as possible.
Standish was twenty yards from the hull of the liner when a coughing
roar sounded behind him. He wheeled and uttered a cry of horror. If
the creatures revealed by the light were giants in size, these others
were titans. Nostrils picking up his scent, they came forward slowly,
cutting him off from the ship.
He fired twice again, even as two of the monsters hurtled toward him.
It was stark struggle then. With only the reflected light of the search
lamp and the vague glow of the stars, Standish fought desperately. The
pistol barrel became hot; the white-haired things went down in two's
and three's.
And then abruptly there came a lull in the attack. The creatures halted
listening. And an instant later the sound reached the Earthman's ears
like the hum of an angry hornet. From above it came, rapidly drawing
nearer. Stunned, he saw the saber-toothed monsters turn and slink
quietly back into the jungle.
Up in the sky a light gleamed, and a series of red flashes split
the darkness. Then a black ball-shaped shadow swept downward with
incredible speed. There was a roar and a series of muffled reports as
the thing hurtled over the roof of the jungle and swept to a landing at
the far end of the ravine.
The sounds ceased. Standish stood there, frozen to inactivity. Then a
hysterical shout and a peal of laughter burst from his lips. A space
ship ... a rocket ship, landing here on this planet. It ... it wasn't
possible!
V
But it was possible. As Standish ran forward, he saw a hatch open in
the metal sphere and a man climb out. And yet it wasn't a man. The face
and body were normal, but the arms and legs were vine-like appendages
with segmented fronds for hands. When this person saw Standish, it
recoiled and whipped a knife out from a scabbard at its waist.
Quickly the Earthman raised one arm above his head in the common symbol
of friendliness. A smile of recognition crossed the little man's face.
He nodded and raised his frond-like hand in a similar gesture. Then he
pointed to himself and said:
"Ga-Marr!"
The rocket ship now came under Standish's gaze. He saw that it was of
a design foreign to any craft he had ever seen before. Spherical in
shape, with a series of strange-looking fins along the sides, its stern
rudders were formed of crude exhaust jettisons, and the several ports
were formed of a transparent material that resembled quartz.
Ga-Marr--for it was evident those syllables formed the stranger's
name--opened the hatch door and motioned Standish to enter. Without
hesitation, the Earthman did so. Inside was a single cabin, with a
control panel occupying two of the four walls. Ga-Marr pressed a
button, and a panel slid open in the floor, revealing the motor chamber.
The stranger pointed downward, then shook his head violently. Standish
nodded.
"Motors went dead on you, eh? Well, my friend, it looks as though you
and I were in the same fix. Come along, and I'll show you my diggings."
But when Ga-Marr looked upon the wrecked space liner, he stared
incredulously. He walked its entire length as if doubting its
proportions.
"Yes, she's big all right," Standish smiled, aware that he was not
understood. "But she's no good, the way she is now. Now, how about a
little food?"
In his forecastle home, the Earthman set out a bottle of wine and some
cakes. He noted that Ga-Marr used his front hands with great dexterity,
but that he betrayed no surprise at Standish's own physical appearance.
Once the stranger had eaten, Standish began the necessary task of
providing a common means of communication. He used the Corelli
sound-system--a shortcut method of acquainting the ear and the eye
simultaneously with objects of fundamental importance. Within two
hours, he found he could converse with Ga-Marr with a minimum amount of
difficulty.
Haltingly then, the stranger began to speak:
"I am from the city, Calthedra, of the planet Lyra, of the system
Aritorius. My race was once a great people, but raiders from another
planet destroyed our civilization. All we have left is a few rocket
ships of the kind in which I came. These were built long ago by our
ancestors, and only a few of us know how to operate them."