Astounding Science Fiction, British Edition — page 96: what you’re looking at

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

94 process. of repairing a beam slice through the wiring of the control board when the Furry was brought in. He had been found snugly pro- tected in the ship’s lifeboat, crouched in its shock tank, an officer reported to the commander. The craft had been still surrounded by a remnant of its launching cradle, which showed it had never taken off. Whether the Furry was in the lifeboat because of a higher degree of importance or a lower degree of courage than the members of the Furry crew who had died in their spaceship was not possible to deter- mine by his face. He stood straight and stared around with the Furry equivalent of a glower. The commander glowered back good-naturedly, He was _ highly pleased. **Well, we got something any- way,” he said to the officers around him. ““What we need now is the medi- cal department, the intelligence de- partment, a translator and one or two weapon scientists.’”” He went back to taking reports and giving orders over the televiewer, listening to a solid wall of televiewer screens, his feet spread and planted like an admiral on deck. In his six-ship command before he found himself with the combined fieets of humanity under him, he had been able to handle everything and apparently he clung to the habit although there was a staff of officers behind him to whom he could have delegated: almost everything that needed to be done. The hubbub from the screens was almost overwhelming, but he seemed to enjoy it. Calland, watching, finished welding two broken ends of wire and won- dered what to do with a printed circuit plate which had broken across. The parts bin was in an airless punc- tured section of the ship. He postponed the question and sorted out some more scrambled wire ends. ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION ‘“‘Where’s the medico?’’ demanded the commander, turning. “Where’s the translator? How long do we stand around and wait?” Officers made apologetic noises and ran around making hurry-up calls to various departments. Calland welded wire ends and in- spected the Furry with admiration. Furries were human-seeming, but taller, and covered with mouse gray fur. This one was exceptionally strong looking, with brown wide eyes accen- tuated by dark brown fur stripes; the two vertical stripes on his forehead running up over his head and down his back. He had seen Furries before the quarrel began, and had liked them as most people did, because they seemed more. direct and naive, be- cause they were honest, and because they. had no arts but operatic singing, and admired human arts, and because of some engaging quality in their open childish pride in having bigger shinier machines. However in wartime their having bigger shinier machines made a differ- ence. As long as the war was fought with machines— The Furries he had seen had always worn respirator clips over their noses. This one did not and yet seemed to have no trouble breathing. Calland remembered that the respirators were unnecessary: the Furries used them only to protect themselves against the subtle smell of green growing plants and of men which pervades the air wherever man settled, and wherever plants were used for air purification. To their alien chemistry these odors were an obnoxious penetrating stench. The Furry, respiratorless, was wrink- ling his dark snub nose with an occasional involuntary twitch. The medico came in and had the captive sit down while being examined. comicbooks.co nim