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and chipped in places. There were stains on the deck.
When they got the last of the equipment aboard, the entryway closed. There was
no warning at all. Their weight increased. It was obvious that the ship was in
motion. Rick estimated the acceleration at about twice the Moon s gravity.
After two hours, he began shouting. What the hell s going on, he demanded.
There was no one to talk to. The only TV screen was blank. It seemed silly to
be shouting at empty air, but it was sillier not to do something.
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Nothing happened. Some of the troops prowled the areas they could reach. They
found doorways that would open, and beyond them were latrines, storage
compartments, another empty area. They found food in two other compartments.
The rest of the system was closed. There was no way into the rest of the ship.
What the hell s going on? Rick muttered.
André Parsons shrugged. There is wine and whiskey in the storerooms. I
suggest we have a drink.
Is that all you think of?
No, but I think of nothing better to do at the moment.
More than fifty hours went by. They still had no word from anyone. They had
been under accelera-tion the entire time. Rick worked out the distance,
assuming two Lunar gravities. The answer seemed so unreasonable that he worked
it again.
Thirty-two million miles. A third of the distance from Earth to the Sun.
There was nothing on the TV. Warner began to complain that their employers had
violated their contract. Rick privately agreed, but he saw no point in talking
about it. If the
Shalnuksis were listening, he didn t want them thinking in those terms.
Finally Elliot shut Warner up.
A couple of troopers got roaring drunk, and Rick had to post guards at the
door to the liquor com-partment. The problem was whom did he trust? Discipline
was going to hell, and there wasn t much he could do about it.
Another forty hours went by.
TEN MINUTES. The voice sounded through their compartment. You have ten
minutes to pre-pare for no gravity. Ten minutes.
There was netting in the storerooms, and they put the loose equipment under
that, but they kept their weapons. No one wanted ship s doors between them and
their rifles.
The acceleration stopped, and they were in free fall, but not for long. The
ship moved in short jerks. Then there was a deep tone nothing like the
warn-ing tones they had heard from the speakers. This was a deep thrum that
sounded through the whole ship, as if the ship itself were vibrating to the
noise.
Rick s vision blurred. He could see, but not well, as if he were looking
through heavy astigmatic lenses. The thrumming note got louder and in-creased
in pitch.
Then, gradually, the note died away and his vision returned. They began to
feel
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weight again, more than before almost a full Earth gravity.
The TV set came on. It showed Karreeel seated in his highchair. He looked
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almost comical, and some of the troops laughed nervously.
Then they crowded around shouting obscenities. There was no response. Instead,
Karreeel began to speak in a flat monotone.
I regret that this is a recorded message, the alien said. Please listen
carefully.
Shut up, Rick ordered. The babble died, but he missed the first words.
...was unavoidable. You are now on your way to Tran, and you cannot regret
your lack of proper equipment more than we do. Your success is impor-tant to
us, and only great need forces us to send you with so little preparation. The
alien spoke in a calm and detached manner, but Rick noticed that the mouth and
nose slits flared more than they had during the interview in Agzaral s office.
We will provide you with as much information as possible. The pilot of this
vessel is of your species, and he has tapes of what we know of local
condi-tions.
He will translate the information and provide you with copies of the planetary
surveys.
You will be aboard the transport ship for approx-imately forty of your days.
During that time the ac-celeration will be increased to that of Paradise to
accustom you to the gravity you will find there.
I regret that most of the information on local languages is very old, but
doubtless you will learn those currently in use. You may need only one. We are
interested in only a small area of the planet. You will also be given all the
information required to plant and harvest the crops. The cultivation of the
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