Mission of Gravity

It covered very little of that distance before the sun set, and details ceased to be visible. Esstes, the smaller sun, was still in the sky and brighter than the full moon of Earth, but Barle

Even though he might have to wait, of course; the Flyers might object to the sort of examination he really wanted to give their machinery.

III: OFF THE GROUND

The tank’s arrival, Lackland’s emergence from the dome’s main air lock, and the rising of Belne all took place at substantially the same moment* The vehicle stopped only a couple of yards from the platf orln on which Barle

„I’d like to be sociable,” he said in answer to it, „but honestly, Charlie, would you stay on this ghastly mudball a moment longer than you had to?”

„Well, I could do pretty much the same work from Toorey, or from a ship in a free orbit for that matter,” retorted Lackland. „I think personal contact means a good deal. I still want to find out more about Barle

„I don’t follow you.”

„Barle

„Remember, he normally lives in a gravity field from two hundred to nearly seven hundred times as strong as Earth’s. We certainly won’t follow him home to meet his relatives! Furthermore, there probably aren’t a hundred of his race who are not only in the same business but courageous enough to go so far from their natural homes. Of those hundred, what ‘are our chances of meeting another? Granting that this ocean is the one they frequent most, this little arm of it, from which this bay is an offshoot, is six thousand miles long and a third as wide — with a very crooked shore line. As for spotting one, at sea or ashore, from above — well, Barle

„No, Mack, our meeting Barle

„You’ve made your point,” the other human being admitted, „but I’m still glad it’s you and not me. Of course, maybe if I knew Barle

„Barl, I trust you will forgive my rudeness in not introducing Wade McLellan,” Lackland said. „Wade, this is Barle

„I am glad to meet you, Pfyer McLellan,” the Mesklinite responded. „No apology is necessary, and I assumed that your conversation was meant for my ears as well.” He performed the standard pincer-opening gesture of greeting. „I had already appreciated the good fortune for both of us which our meeting represents, and only hope that I can fulfill my part of the bargain as well as I am sure you will yours.”

„You speak English remarkably well,” commented McLellan. „Have you really been learning it for less than six weeks?”

„I am not sure how long your ‘week’ is, but it is less than thirty-five hundred days since I met your friend,” returned the commander. „I am a good linguist, of course — it is necessary in my business; and the films that Charles showed helped very much.”

„It is rather lucky that your voice could make all the sounds of our language. We sometimes have trouble that way.”

„That, or something like it, is why I learned your English rather than the other way around. Many of the sounds we use are much too shrill for your vocal cords, I understand.” Barle

„Very little,” confessed Lackland. „You seem, from what little I have seen, to have an extremely well-trained crew. A great deal of your regular activity is done without orders, and I can make nothing of the conversations you sometimes have with some of your men, which are not accompanied by any action.”

„You mean when I am talking to Dondragmer or Merkoos? They are my first and second officers, and the ones I talk to most.”

„I hope you will not feel insulted at this, but I am quite unable to tell one of your people from another. I simply am not familiar enough with your distinguishing characteristics.”

Barle

„In my case, it is even worse. I am not entirely sure whether I have seen you without artificial covering or not.”

„Well, that is carrying us a long way from business — we’ve used up a lot of daylight as it is. Mack, I assume you want to get back to the rocket and out where weight means nothing and men are balloons. When you get there, be sure that the receiver-transmitters for each of these four sets are placed close enough together so that one will register on another. I don’t suppose it’s worth the trouble of tying them in electrically, but these folks are going to use them for a while as contact between separate parties, and the sets are on different frequencies. Barl, I’ve left the radios by the air lock. Apparently the sensible program would be for me to put you and the radios on top of the crawler, take Mack over to the rocket, and then drive you and the apparatus over to the Bree.”

Lackland acted on this suggestion, so obviously the right course, before anyone could answer; and Barle

The man’s armored hand swept out and picked up the tiny body of the Mesklinite. For one soul-shaking instant Barle