Astounding Science Fiction (British edition) — page 41: what you’re looking at

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

SHARE OUR WORLD 39 sorry. ““What did you want to show me?’” ““Come on down to the air lock, you'll see.” They walked slowly down the corri- dor together. The main air lock was two levels down, but even here they could tell it was standing open. Planet air always smells different from ship’s air. You can’t tell the difference so much when it’s being sucked in by the ship’s blowers, but when you leave the air locks open the distinctive smells of the planet reach all parts of the ship. Chang breathed in the faintly am- moniacal air of “Four” happily. She felt suddenly that the ship, which had been merely a vehicle during the trip from the Procyon system, was now a home. She was trying to think how to say this to Balch when he spoke. *“How’s your nibbly?” *““My what?” “Your nibbly. In your lab.” “Why do you call the animal that? We gave it a perfectly good name.” “Yeah. He just looks that way to me. You know. Squats with his long nose stuck out in front of him and— wiggles it just a little. Eats a little, takes a couple of steps, then—wiggles his nose some more.” “T know.” She smiled. “I like them too. But I don’t understand them.” 3 “Can’t speak the language yet.” “Maybe that’s it. I don’t know.” ‘““Maybe the specimen I got you just happened to be a nibbly moron. What makes you so sure the nibblies are intelligent, anyway?” “Tl discuss that in my report when I make it out.” ‘“Now don’t be coy.” *“*Look who’s talking!” Balch laughed. “Well, this item I’m taking you to see might help with that very question.” Chang didn’t answer; they were at the ladder. They came down in silence and there was the air lock, opening on the forests of Four. Chang sat down on the edge, laugh- ing a little in her excitement. It was just ten of the local days since this planet had been seen by men for the first time! The Joneses and Balch and she and the rest of them had come, and here they were, and here was this world. She accepted it, she loved it, even though she had seen no more of it than what was visible from the ship. There wasn’t much to see. The sun- light was sharp and bright, and a little bluer than she was used to. Below her spread the clearing in which the ship had landed; around it the shimmering forest rose up so high that from here she could see very little of the sky. Just the face of the forest, pale, misty, and blue-green, and motion every- where—waving, fluttering, darting, rippling, but always motion. All the flying things here were small, in spite of the high air pressure; they did not travel straight, but flitted back and forth through the vast complexity of the forest. : *T like this planet!’ said Chang, in a tone more subdued than she felt. “T Jove it!” Balch’s laugh sounded as if he was embarrassed by his own enthusiasm. “I revel in it. Ranji and I will have to show you more of it some time.” ““Oh yes, yes, yes, aS Soon as we can. It’s—’’ She broke off. “Better than home?” “Better than Procyon II,” she agreed. “And it’s the biggest job any of us could have.” “It was a wonderful world before we started and it’ll still be a wonderful world after it’s settled. What were you going to show me?” He sat down at the side of the air lock, where he could watch both her conniicloooks. conn