Astounding British Edition, Vol. 9, No. 10 — page 34: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

~~ 32 _ ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION - communication, both Ss or, if he a > could talk fast enough, neither. Barlennan had nothing against the _ Earthman; but he wanted something from him that he suspected the alien would not give willingly. Any secrets which might later be used in tricking him should, for that reason, be preserved. On the other hand, if he tried to talk his way out of revealing a fact and were detected, Lack- land could hardly fail to become both suspicious and distrustful. Too much time spent in reaching a decision could have this effect, too; some answer must be made at once. Barlennan did the best he could. “Apparently Dondragmer is sharper than I realized. Is it true that you have _ ‘fearned some of the Flyer’s language, Don?” This he asked in English, and in _-a pitch that Lackland could hear. In the shriller tones that his own language em- ployed so much he added, “Tell the truth—I want to cover up as long as possible the fact that we can talk without his hearing. Answer in his own language, if you can.” The mate obeyed, though not even his captain could have guessed at his thoughts. “I have learned much of your lan- guage, Charles Lackland. I did not realize you would object.” “I don’t mind at all, Don; I am very pleased, and, I admit, surprised. I would gladly have taught you as well as Barl if you had come to my station. Since you have learned on your own—I sup- pose from comparing our conversations and your captain’s resultant activities— please enter our discussion. The sugges- tion you made a moment ago was sound; I will call the Toorey station at once.” The operator on the moon answered - immediately, since a constant guard was now being maintained on the tank’s main transmitter frequency through several re- lay stations drifting in Mesklin’s outer ring. He indicated understanding of the problem, and promised that a survey would be made as quickly as possible. Lackland, knowing the expense of operat- ing even a hydrogen-iron rocket near Mesklin, suspected that his mission was now the only hope the expedition leader La a Oe Le! .. “Ree A Le oe) 2 eee = oe ee a Ne catia tama) Cae =. 1 ae leg = aie Ea wat) Spat Oe EP ae ¢ Re v ~~ retained of recovering the gravity data in the downed rocket. “As quickly as possible,” however, meant quite a number of Mesklin’s days; and while waiting the trio endeavored to formulate other plans in case the cliff could not be rounded within a reasonable distance. Physically, of course, the rocket was perfectly capable of lifting the weight of the Bree and its crew. If that had been practical, however, it would have been done long since; unfortunately, there was no method of slinging a load outside the craft, and the crew could not tolerate for an instant either the temperature or the atmosphere inside. If the pilot wore armor and the rocket were opened to Mesklinite conditions, it was more than likely that drastic results would occur to the internal mechanism of the ship. Also the Bree, like the sled she was now riding, would have to be disassembled to get through even the cargo lock, though her construction made that fact merely a nuisance rather than an impossibility. All these difficulties had been considered be- fore Rosten had approved of the sled. One or two of the sailors expressed a willingness to jump down the cliff, to Barlennan’s anxiety—he felt that the natural fear of height should not be re- placed with complete contempt, even 99 though the entire crew now shared his willingness to climb and jump. Lackland was called upon to help dissuade these foolhardy individuals, which he managed to do by computing that the sixty-foot drop of the cliff was about equal to a one- foot fall at the latitude of their home country. This revived enough memory of childhood experience to put a stop to the idea. The captain, thinking over this event afterward, realized that by his own lifelong standards he had a crew com- posed entirely of lunatics, with himself well to the front in degree of aberration; but he was fairly sure that this particular form of insanity was going to be useful. Ideas more practical than these were not forthcoming for some time; and Lackland took the opportunity to catch up on his sleep, which he badly needed. He had had two long sessions in his bunk, interrupted by a hearty meal, when the EGOmMmichbooks.co