To spread Mankind to the stars carries a high cost in lives—and not all of them are human!...

Miracastle: The initial landing had been made on a flat plateau among steep, foreboding mountains which seemed to float through briefly cleared air. In the distance a sharp rock formation stood revealed like an etching: a castle of iron-gray stone whose form had been carved by alien winds and eroded by acid tears from acid clouds. Far above was a halo where the sun should be. The sun was an orange star only slightly larger than Sol and as near to Miracastle as Sol to Earth. The orange rays splin

The long ship hung in orbit above Miracastle and discharged its passengers. The Scout Ball could handle them: saving energy, which along with time itself, is the ultimate precious commodity of the universe governed by the laws of entropy. The Scout Ball settled through the dark turbulence undisturbed by the hissing winds. It hovered momentarily in the invisible beacon above the Richardson dome as if both attracted and repelled. It moved horizontally and settled. Suited figures on the surface wre

"City" is not necessarily descriptive: perhaps less so than the application of Euclidean axioms to advanced geometry. Physically, it was this: 1. Three dozen stone arches whose keystones were inverted bowls. 2. A smooth-walled recess in the sheer face of a cliff. 3. A level lip of rock, as precisely flat as though honed, from which the arches seemed to grow. "Is this all?" Mr. Tucker asked. "Yes, sir," Captain Meford said. Mr. Ryan came to the viewing section. "It looks," he said, "as though the

The Committee took over the dining area when the general left for his tour of inspection. While the steward's department was preparing coffee for the interviewees, now assembling in the corridor, the four members of the Committee arranged themselves at the larger of the tables. Notepaper lay before them. Mr. Tucker lighted a cigar and fingered it. "A rather good meal," he said. The others nodded. "I may as well start off, while we're waiting," Mr. Wallace said. "I'll summarize my somewhat contra