Tension eased away as the spaceship settled down on its metallic haunches and they savored a safe planetfall. Ekstrohm fingered loose the cinches of his deceleration couch. He sighed. An exploration camp would mean things would be simpler for him. He could hide his problem from the others more easily. Trying to keep secret what he did alone at night was very difficult under the close conditions on board a ship in space. Ryan hefted his bulk up and supported it on one elbow. He rubbed his eyes sl

Ekstrohm was startled in the morning by a banging on the hatch of his bubble. It took him a few seconds to put his thoughts in order, and then he got up from the bunk where he had been resting, sleeplessly. The angry burnt-red face of Ryan greeted him. "Okay, Stormy, this isn't the place for fun and games. What did you do with them?" "Do with what?" "The dead beasties. All the dead animals laying around the ship." "What are you talking about, Ryan? What do you think I did with them?" "I don't kn

Ryan observed his two crewmen confidently the next morning. "I did some thinking last night." Great , Ekstrohm thought. For that you should get a Hazardous Duty bonus. "This business is pretty simple," the captain went on, "these pigs simply play possum. They go into a state of suspended animation, when faced by a strange situation. Xenophobia! I don't see there's much more to it." "Well, if you don't see that there's more to it, Ryan—" Nogol began complacently. "Wait a minute," Ekstrohm interje

The traction-scooter was where he had left it, hanging upside down on the underside of the concave slope. It had stopped automatically when his weight had left the seat. He reached up, toggled the OVERRIDE switch and put it manually into reverse. Once straightened out, he was on his way back to the base. I feel good, he thought. I feel like I could lick my weight in spacemen. Only then did he realize why he felt so good. What had happened had been so strange for him, he couldn't realize what it