The interstellar liner "Mirasol" settled gently to Sthor, having circled
wide of Asthor, and from her hold a cargo of the heavy Jovian elements
was discharged, while a mixed stream of Solarians and Mirans came from
her passenger quarters.
A delegation of Mirans met the new Ambassador from Sol, Commander
McLaurin, and conducted him joyfully to the Central Government Group.
Beside the great buildings, a battered, scarred interstellar ship lay,
her rear section a mass of great patches, rudely applied, and rudely
made, mere cast metal plates.
Gresth Gkae welcomed Commander McLaurin to the Government Hall. "Your
arrival today, Commander McLaurin, was most fortunate," he said in the
interstellar language that had been developed, "for but yesterday Gresth
Talak, my brother, arrived in his ship. Before we made that
fortunate-unfortunate expedition against your system, we waited for him,
and he did not come, so we knew his ship had, like others, been lost.
"He arrived only yesterday, some seventy hours ago, and explained how it
had come about. He too found a solar system. But he was less fortunate
than I, and while exploring this uninhabited system, far out still from
the central sun, where there should have been no masses of matter, one
of those rare things, a giant stony meteor that even a magnetic shield
will not stop careened into the rear of his ship. Damaged badly, barely
able to move, they settled to a planet. The atmosphere was breathable,
the temperature mild. But while they could navigate planetary
distances, they could not return, so for nearly four and a half of your
years they remained there, working, working to repair their ship.
"They have done it at last. And they have returned. And best of all,
after a four-year stay there, they know all they need know about that
system of eleven planets. It is compact as yours, with an ultra-light
sun such as yours, and four of the planets are habitable. Together we
can colonize that system! It is a system of stable heat and stable
light. And it is small, yet large enough. And with the devices such as
your new energy has permitted, we need never fear the stony meteors
again." Gresth Gkae smiled happily. "Still better--it is inhabited only
by the lowest forms of life. It is too costly to both races when Jarth
sees fit to stimulate them by throwing one against the other, despite
the good things that may come later."