A shudder , more mental than physical , ran through him , and his mind seemed to melt away into emptiness . 
His bulging eyes caught the reclining form of Heather , who was still repeating in sing-song : " . 
... I will not give in ... " 
He stared at her blankly , mouthing an incoherent gabble of half words . 
Then he broke into a crazy laugh that made rolling echoes through the house , and trailed-off into a long-drawn-out unearthly wail . 
The wail should have been despairing ; but its eerie note , even in its senseless gaggling babble , was jubilant , triumphant . 
CHAPTER 7 HAPPY FACES AND AN EXIGENCY 
RETURNING to some degree of consciousness , Steve found himself slumped in a chair trying to shake and blink away the mind-deadening mists of hypnotic trance . 
To his still rather stuporous perceptions , the world was an endless cloud in which he floated , and in which various dark , shapeless objects went round and round in concentric orbits . 
The rotations preceeded by rhythmic jerks , which were timed to a painful throb that bumped in his head . 
He slapped himself in the face and cuffed the sides of his head . 
Then by degrees the rotating objects slowed , and coming into focus took the form of the furnishings in Dan Brown 's living room . 
He stood up unsteadily and looked about the room , trying to gather his wits . 
Outside the dusk was settling over Dow 's Lake and the heights beyond were in silhouette , already a solid black . 
He bumped into a floor lamp and switched it on . 
Heather McNabb still lay on the couch , her body uncomfortably twisted and afflicted with occasional spasmodic jerks . 
He went to the kitchen for water and found Dan . 
Dan was lying on a long bench in the breakfast nook , his head bent upright against the wall . 
His usually animated face was expressionless and looked flat , as though his nose had been pushed back and his eyes and cheeks brought forward . 
He mouthed a low mutter , punctuated at intervals with a few syllables of a crazy and incoherent jargon . 
As Steve looked at him his mouth suddenly snapped shut , with jaws askew . 
There was utter imbecility in his blank face . 
Presently the muttering started again , and went on and on . 
Stunned and shaken , Steve drew a glass of water and went back to Heather . 
Half an hour later Heather and Steve were still trying to shake-off the last traces of hypnotic after-effects . 
For several minutes they had been facing each other across a low table , like two old convalescents thoroughly bored with each other through forced association . 
Then something like a zest for living began to come back to Steve and he squeezed her hand . 
Her face took on enough animation to produce a wan smile . 
Dan 's low muttering was just audible from the kitchen . 
And Steve could see that as Heather recovered her senses and emotions she was growing cold and numb with shock . 
She had seen Dan , or rather the physical relic of him — the empty shell of flesh and bone , devoid of intellect and personality . 
And these had been his great qualities , so attractive to her . 
The Base Station had gone before , discharging its narrow plane of ementalating energy along the length of the Earth 's imaginary longitudes , moving eastward like a knife-edged twilight in reversed progression . 
It had brought the First Stage in the Thetan pattern of conquest , the empty-minded receptiveness that prepared the way for the Second Stage . 
The Landingship followed with its longitudinal sweeps , an invisible speck moving at incredible speed in the ionosphere . 
Up and down , from pole to pole . 
Beaming down a moving cone of impulses , and bringing the Second Stage . 
Bringing reverence and servility to preconditioned humanity . 
Now the Thetan impulses of the Second Stage descended on Dan and he received their inspiration . 
It was nine-thirty . 
He rose from his breakfast-nook bench and came into the livingroom , where Heather and Steve stood aghast at his entrance . 
He came , almost falling forward in an ungainly shuffle , neck thrust out , arms dangling loosely . 
Then , abruptly , he drew himself up and walked on the very tips of his toes . 
He stretched his arms over his head and yawned agape , drawing-in great breaths that became great sighs of ecstacy . 
His flat moonface shone with an undescribable expression of utter happiness . 
Seeing Heather he came to her and danced her gleefully around the room . 
He slapped Steve heartily on the back , and then sat down . 
He seemed preoccupied , as though groping for an elusive understanding of some new and wonderful phenomenon . 
Then he beamed upon his guests . 
" They have come ! " he said reverently , gripping his hands together between his knees and leaning forward . 
" Is n't it a glorious thing ! 
Long awaited transcendent event , the exalted desire of all mankind through all ages ! 
The Kingdom of the Mind is at hand ! " 
He turned beaming eyes upward and shook his head slowly from side to side . 
" Oh , Lord of Lords ! 
I commend myself , through my mind which is part of Thine , to Thy Command . 
For in doing Thy command my services become a part of the ultimate fulfilment . 
Fulfilment of the Kingdom of the Mind on Earth ! " 
He had intoned this awful devotion in rapt attention , as though repeating the faint phrasing of a distant voice . 
And his fervour grew in stringendo until his last words were uttered in a frenzy of zeal and adoration . 
Then , very calmly , and with a light of inner peace and sure purpose shining in his eyes , he said : " I go to bed now . 
Good night . " 
Steve drove Heather to her nearby apartment and then continued through the sleeping city to his place in Rockliffe . 
He drove down the lighted streets , his passage controlled by traffic lights that blinked green and red in their proper intervals . 
A superfluous precaution for there was no other car abroad ; and no pedestrian to cross his path nor to wait at an intersection for the light to change . 
At his apartment he garaged his car and then stood listening in the night . 
Listening in vain . 
For the earth had lost its life-tempo , as the heart loses its beat in death . 
Deadly stillness , deadly portent ! 
Steve awakened early and switched on the radio , which he kept tuned to CBO . 
The set lighted-up but gave only a low buzzing sound . 
He had just finished shaving when it came on , with a flat voice repeating : " This is BBC calling ... this is BBC calling ... " 
After what seemed an undue period of repetition , the voice went on to describe the landing of the Thetan colony in Sussex , in all its obscene details . 
Then the radio went dead again , and Steve had no stomach for breakfast . 
It was a beautiful day , as firsts-of-June should be . 
Steve got out the car and traversed the same empty streets as he had the night before , to keep an appointment with Heather . 
Coming around the great mass of the Chateau Laurier , he braked to a screeching stop . 
A flying saucer was tilting and dipping over the War Memorial . 
There was a deep whirring sound , and a high-pitched hissing overtone that sang in his ears with an almost painful sharpness . 
He reversed and turned back on McKenzie Avenue . 
The Thetans must not see him ! 
He took another route to Heather 's and saw two more flying saucers on the way . 
Heather was very anxious to visit Dan at once ; but Steve insisted that they should first discuss their situation , as far as it could be assessed , and to decide on what seemed to be the best way of meeting it . 
" The Thetans , " he said , " are presumably here to take charge , as it were , of the minds of the people — who are probably falling all over themselves in their zeal to get their orders and to carry them out . 
Just what these orders will be , we do n't know . 
Now , because of prior hypnosis we have escaped Thetan subjugation . 
This time . 
But we no longer have any immunity . 
There can be little doubt that if the Thetans discover our mental independence they will promptly give us their hypnotic treatment . 
If we can avoid undue prominence , it may be that we can move about pretty freely without detection . 
If we can — well , then we may be able to promote our own interests . 
What those interests are , beyond personal security , I have n't a clue ; but , who knows , we may form the nucleus around which some sort of resistance movement may be built . 
" Now , to summarize what I think our course of action should be . 
First , to avoid the Thetans like the plague , for they must not find us out ! 
Second , to tread pretty warily among our own people , finding out just how much freedom we can take with safety . 
And third , to study these damned Thetans . 
We must learn all we can about them . 
There is just a hope that we may uncover some weakness , and find a way of fighting back at them . " 
Heather agreed , and suggested that they use Dan as a specimen demonstrating how the Thetan machinations had been working out . 
It occurred to Steve that this may not have been entirely an objective suggestion on her part ; but he thought it a good idea nevertheless . 
So they proceeded to see if the coast was clear . 
The street was quiet and deserted , and there were neither sight nor sound of flying saucers . 
So they ventured forth and made their way on foot to Dan 's house . 
Dan came to the door at their ring but neglected to offer any greeting . 
He was deeply preoccupied , and it seemed that the ringing of a doorbell was to him a new and strange phenomenon . 
When he finally beckoned to them to enter , the action gave the impression of having been thought out and decided upon . 
Inside they sat down unbidden , while Dan paced the floor . 
He seemed completely unaware of their presence . 
They just stared at him , turning their heads like tennis spectators as he walked up and down , up and down . 
His whole attitude was a mixture of impatience pending an awaited communication and of a vague perplexity respecting his surroundings and the purpose he was to serve . 
Finally , being so obviously on their own , Heather and Steve tried to make themselves at home . 
Steve switched on Dan 's powerful , world-wide radio and systematically turned the tuning knob through all the tuning points of the world 's great radio stations . 
The dials lighted up but he got only a variety of squeaks and whistles . 
The ether waves were without human voice or sound ; they were dead to the world . 
Overhead a flying saucer whirred and , pitched high above the whir , whined its pungent song . 
Dan stopped his pacing and became profoundly attentive . 
It seemed that he was listening to unspoken orders and they could almost hear him say , " Yes , yes ! " , in his eager acceptance of them . 
Then he beamed on Steve and Heather in turn with an expression of ineffable happiness on his flat face . 
Quickly taking his coat and hat from the vestibule closet , he rushed from the house without a word . 
They followed him to a city bus stop on Carling Avenue , where he waited . 
The bus stop was a deserted island on an empty street . 
But not for long , for soon pedestrians and cars flocked upon the Avenue from its many tributary streets . 
It might have been a normal business-day bustle , except for two anomalies . 
First , it was Sunday morning ; and , second , everyone walked , or drove , or waited as a person possessed of a single all-exclusive purpose . 
There were no pleasantries , no shouted greetings , no friendly waves of recognition . 
Everyone minded his own business with a vengeance . 
Yet there was not a grim or surly face in all the crowd . 
Anywhere that Heather and Steve might look they found reflections of Dan Brown 's indescribably happy face . 
After a long wait a bus appeared and they followed the beaming Dan aboard , taking seats some rows behind him . 
Steve was beginning to find the stereotyped , flattish , happy faces very disconcerting ; and looking at Heather he found a welcome relief in her relatively long doleful one . 
In W.C.U. , too , reference to the evil in that system would be avoided like the plague in public debate . 
Mutually-sustaining opposites ... 
Realtor 's measure , being lost anyway , since the Mocrats were in a minority , was not pressed to a vote ; and it was a relief for the Senate to turn from these remote and academic matters to the next item on the agenda , a practical fug measure to "Spyproof the Membrane and Expand . " 
Harry did not know what this meant and , as in Casino Ronde , had the Cherokee Indian feeling . 
He decided to slip down to the canteen for a cup of coffee . 
" What 's happening aloft ? " drawled a journalist , his elbows sprawling over the canteen table , his pencil doodling among his shorthand notes . 
" This motion to spy-proof the membrane , what does it mean ? " 
"Have n't you heard ? 
The fugs , especially , are scared by reports that W.C.U. spies are being shot through the membrane in capsules . 
They could guide missiles onto Back-Face targets which are now safe . " 
He picked his teeth . 
" In the mountains they 've found little capsules , this big " — he brandished a teaspoon — " with hundreds of tiny little red men inside them . " 
"Is n't it a bit far-fetched ? " said Harry , recalling what Lilipendi had said , about the Mos being as credulous as Africans . 
" If you ask me , the capsules and the red midgets inside them come out of one of Moke 's toy factories . " 
"Moke — Moke Blenkinsop you mean ? " 
"Would n't it make sense ? 
Traditionally Second Coming is associated with Daggitt 's , the membrane people , and has put more money into it lately . 
Coincidence ? 
If spy-proofing becomes statutory , it 'll mean a complete 360 degree new trap in the membrane . 
" Will it become statutory ? " 
"Realtor and his Mocrats will be against it , but Moke licked them even when they were in power , though only just . 
" Is n't Mike Renshaw a match for Moke ? " 
Though leader of the Anti-Presidentials , Renshaw was known to be left of centre , so by no means uncritical of big business . 
" Renshaw 's ulcers are bad this month . 
He 's away resting and playing clock-golf ; and the end of next week , you know , the Bowery President is coming over and they 'll have a lot to talk about " — a sly reference to the long break in Mo-American affairs occasioned by the Panama Affair . 
The Mos had refused to deal with Marjoribanks , but had just agreed to receive his successor , President Scribner . 
" So that 's why Moke gets the right-wing A.P . 's to bring in the spy-proofing now ? " 
"I 'm not saying so , " but the journalist winked knowingly , though probably he did n't know any more than Harry whether real knowledge , rather than prejudice , or possibly just the policy of his paper , lay behind that wink . 
And not for the first or last time the American felt the Moon as an outsize social organism which is still primitive in that it has not yet grown sufficient nervous system to be aware of its own internal motions , far less of their outward repercussions . 
" But this place is n't really a Political Centre if Financier Moke secretly inspires it , " he said , thinking of those stories he had read as a boy . 
" I 'm not saying so . " 
"But why should n't you if it 's true ? 
Have n't you free speech on Moon ? " 
"Of course we 've got free speech ; and we 'll smash in the face of anyone who says that we have n't ! " . 20 
BUT during these real days in Aristotle Harry was not merely dabbling in mighty Mo matters perhaps beyond the understanding of a sub outsider : he was also carrying out his commitments to Mr. Halliday , and Uncle Sam , by revising his stories . 
Energy had returned with the Sun . 
Also the economic equilibrium which he had had in Plato , before the interruption of the real nights . 
He determined to spend the next series of them here in Aristotle , where the pace was less than in Plato , almost reminding him of sleepy sub towns like Philadelphia and Chicago . 
Then he would go back to Plato for a final spell of real days and would return to New York in late January or early February . 
Angelina might be a little sorry if we were not back for Christmas as arranged , but he consoled himself by thinking that he and Angelina would have plenty of time together in the future . 
And Heaven alone knew when , if ever , he would be back on Moon again , and able to do research at first hand into matters on which the future of everyone , including Angelina , depended ... 
The recovery of his balance was due to the fact that he was living , virtually without expenses , with the people to whom Moke had sent him : little people who regarded him as lucky to have descended from such economic altitudes . 
Tom Dreyfus had a job on the machines in the Secretariat ( Stamp Department ) while Sally sulked at home . 
They had been married for six years , but the salary raise , on the expectation of which they had done so , had not materialised . 
" Do you know , I had to send back our bedroom furniture in the second year , " she moaned . 
She had contacts in political circles , a schoolfriend of hers having married Lester Peron , a Mocrat Senator with a seat on the ( literally ) all-powerful Rocket Release Board . 
Sometimes she took Harry around with her , but never her husband , a fact he accepted as inevitable . 
" I guess Sally made a mistake about me , " he said one evening , when he had been left to cook his own meal . 
All Sally 's relations were makrodeb now , but Tom was a Static Mib , the middle-income-bracket equivalent to sub-lil on the lower . 
The economic shock had unmanned him and Harry , seeing his host busy among soft foods in the kitchen , felt that the poor fellow was , understandably , changing sex . 
So a happy week passed , and it was a lunar noon , and the dark Earth was fringed with the " Wedding ring effect " , when eventually Sally Dreyfus took Harry to see the Lester Perons . 
All Aristotle was excited at the time , not by the prospect of the U.S. President 's visit , but by a great storm in the photosphere of the sun . 
A matter which on Earth would hardly penetrate beyond the minds of astronomers was of general interest to the Mos , doubtless because their habitat is not submerged beneath a deep natural atmosphere . 
One wondered if this greater awareness of the physical cosmos might with time instil the reverence which , on Earth , nature inspires , especially when one reflected that the rockets over which Mr. Peron 's Board presided had it in their power permanently to warp the solar system . 
True enough , such ultimate weapons had not been used in the last few wars , but it seemed very probable that they would be in the next one , Moon and her allies being more inferior than formerly to W.C.U. in the weapons pronounced conventional . 
Lester was not home yet from his formidable duties and his wife , in the manner of middle-brow wives , romanced about him in his absence . 
" Lester was a country lawyer , and we were very small microdebs , were n't we , Sally " — here she had dropped her voice in homage to the economic system : that was reverenced — "when he thought we might get GO a bit better if he entered politics . 
Know how he did it ? 
He 's clever on the mouth-organ . 
So when he visited some craterlet on Face ( ours is an agricultural Back-Face area ) the cry would go up , as soon as he had spoken a few sentences of his speech : "Cut the politics , Lester , give us something on your mouth-organ . " 
That 's how he got the votes , that 's how we came through to makrodeb status and got all these lovely things " — she waved a plump hand towards her grand pianos , etc : at the same time a door banged — " but do n't say a word about it , Lester wants his mouth-organ to be forgotten now . 
The time has come for him to be taken seriously as a statesman . " 
Peron entered , a large man , who had once been handsome but was now seedy-looking , a sufferer from stomach-ulcers . 
In the Back-Face tradition he wore , and kept on indoors , a fifty gallon hat . 
Harry was prepared for something unpleasant , for this was the Senator who had annoyed the United States by bragging how he had once won a trick from W.C.U. by threatening to loose off one of his rockets ( an admission which would scarcely help bluff to succeed the next time ) and , lately , by saying that if Mo land-troops had to come to the aid of the O.G.O. contingent in the Panama region , " no Mo dough-boy will want to have an American G.I. fighting alongside him . " 
But privately he turned out to be as friendly as Mr. Wise the tube manufacturer , to have the same adolescent openness and freshness , though perhaps not the same maturity . 
One remembered that he was a lawyer by training , and suspected that the points he made so sharply in international politics were as abstract to him as those a lawyer makes in a court of law . 
The motive would be the same in both cases , to serve this home of his , in which his heart lay . 
Here the rocket man 's charm was disarming . 
Yet when the time came to leave , Harry felt as depressed as when he left Mrs. Halliday 's office , exactly a month ago . 
If even Mo statesmen only did what they had to do to get GO on an expanding scale , and left the sum-total of their actions , and their lunar and earthly repercussions , to luck ( or to Moke ) , there was a vacuum where there should be a centre of trust , responsible for the maintenance and expansion of free society . 
The political life of Aristotle looked more and more like a masquerade of business interests in disguise which , far from attracting the allegiance of free men everywhere , could only repel them . 
Then what of the cultural life ? 
Did this perhaps nurture a genuinely civilizing impulse which might in time become social fact and counteract the obsession with economics which had grown up during the Moon 's first two centuries ? 
Harry borrowed Sally Dreyfus ' car and drove out to Eudoxus University to see the famous Rodeos which take place at the end of the Advent term , one more of those Mo " traditions " which look so suspect to the American visitor . 
In the cold gas and harsh sunshine of the December afternoon , last year students revolved in interlocking circles on the vast , round campus . 
At the centre of each circle stood personnel managers of corporations , together with professors and their filing clerks . 
The students had bought their college education forward and were now being bought forward in their turn . 
By comparing personal appearances with university records , the agents of the businesses would pick on young men and women who interested them , and contracts would be initialled at the end of the parade . 
But since starting salaries would depend on grade A or B in the finals next May , and since mating prospects would depend upon salaries , scholarship for these fine young people was closely geared to economic and biological ends which , essentially , were really means . 
So , seeing them revolve in circles , Harry had the feeling that Moke ( or what Moke consciously or unconsciously symbolised , anyway in Harry 's mind ) had these splendid young people by the short hairs , and was diverting them from true life . 
Stepping out in their white shorts , they looked glad enough to be diverted , however , with the single exception of one worried little man-student who kept getting out of step . 
He looked as if nothing Moke and his minions could do to him would ever make him GO ; but the reason probably lay in elementary neurosis and not in some eruption from those deeper layers in the human psyche which are trans-economic . 
So once again the metaphysics were depressing , and in absolute contrast to the physical display . 
Mos have an un-American love of parades , and these young ones , on parade for jobs which they had to get to pay off their college bills , were naturally putting their best foot forward . 
6 
A night or two later we were strolling , Lord Undertone and I , on sentry-go , round the tents and we caught sight of Mr Septimus looking out through the flap of the one he occupied with his lordship 's own self . 
" Bit moody , " remarked my companion . 
" Like he used to be years ago ... remember ? " 
Well did I remember the crisis of emotion into which he was plunged one night at Abbotsfield ... a dinner-party it was ... when he first set eyes on Miss Ariadne ; but I did not wish to impart my thoughts or any misgivings I might have on this subject and in any case my recollections of the Manor , of my parlour and Sally sitting there , and of all the amenities were at that moment so strong that I dared not speak . 
" Something 's up , " said Lord Undertone , carefully casual . 
" The servants are all on edge ... did you notice ? 
And the mules did n't seem to want to get off the raft . " 
He peered as it were into the dark secrets of the jungle . 
" Think there 's Indians about ? " 
It was most certainly an eerie night , exceptionally brilliant and strange , for in the proximity of the mountains , whose presence I could almost smell , the air grew less humid and as there was no moon the galaxies had it their own way so that the forest looked ever more mysterious in their faint , silver light . 
" Impressive , " Lord Undertone said , gazing reverently on the cosmic handiwork . 
" All those stars . 
But I 'm a bit earthbound tonight , Trout . 
I 've got a queer feeling , like I always get when something sensational 's going to happen . 
There 's things lurking if you ask me . 
Might be jaguar , might be ... head-shrinkers . 
Hope I die kind of composed , Trout . 
I mean you ca n't imagine the Christian martyrs twisting and shrieking , no matter how bad it felt , the fire you know , or a lion munching , or arrows where it hurts most . 
Or can you . 
Look over there . " 
He pointed to the shadows beyond the river . 
" Something moved . " 
"It may well be the case , my lord , that the darkness conceals some threat . " 
I did what I could to dissemble my dislike of the situation . 
" Well , what are you going to do about it ? " 
"I , my lord ? " 
Somewhat resentful of a responsibility that did not fall within the strict terms of a butler 's engagement , yet at the same time flattered , I felt bound to advance one or two suggestions that occurred to me . 
" Bottle-Foot , my lord . " 
"Bottle-Foot ? " 
His lordship may have thought I had become unbalanced through fear . 
" A character Mr Gilberto mentioned the other day , my lord . 
A being of whom the forest Indians are said to be mortally afraid , with a hoof shaped like the heel of a bottle . 
If your lordship will excuse me a moment ... " 
"All right , but do n't be long . " 
Rummaging among the remains of our provisions I found a bottle with which I made numerous marks on the ground surrounding our tents and a few yards into the jungle , as far as I dared venture . 
" If they should observe these footprints , my lord , " I said , rather proud of the device , " they may be deterred from attacking us . " 
"Ummm . 
Any other ideas ? " 
"Yes , my lord . 
There is also a creature known as the water-mother who sits on a lily-leaf singing and entices men into the stream , where they drown . 
She has long green hair and ... " 
"Kind of Lorelei , you mean ? " 
"Precisely , my lord . 
A highly poetical conception . 
If we could impersonate such a being ... " 
"What , me ? 
Sit on a lily-leaf and sing ? 
Not likely , Trout . 
Better get hold of Mrs Caine ... she 's a witch if you like ... draw anyone into the water . " 
His lordship sighed as one who would n't mind dying in certain unlikely circumstances . 
" D' you think Septimus has gone nuts over her ? " 
The question startled my secret thoughts ; but before I had time to formulate a discreet answer the Indians were all over us and though I was able by means of a trick practised in equally repugnant circumstances to floor the first three who attacked the situation got out of hand . 
Small , repulsive creatures they were , with black , matted hair and a striking resemblance to the shrunk heads we had gazed at recently ; and I have no hesitation in saying that they would have made an end of us but for an intervention so unexpected , so unusual , that only the necessity of rounding my narrative compels me to mention it . 
It will be appreciated that whereas what I am about to relate passed in a series of flashes it seemed very long during the action . 
Standing with the blade of a rough kind of spear at my back ( and I was aware of cuts and scratches that might or might not prove poisonous ) , I did my somewhat futile best by necessarily restricted gestures to draw attention to the ground ; but whether these savages saw Bottle-Foot 's print or not they seemed to have no fear of him , neither did they take the least notice of the alarming countenance Lord Undertone had assumed . 
At first glimpse of our assailants I had of course smitten the empty tin of fruit-salad that constituted our warning note , hoping that its flat tinkle would serve to rouse our companions ; trusting also that it might evoke some magical demonstration on the part of Mrs Caine . 
In what was I suppose little more than a few seconds Canon Pluckley emerged from his tent with the air of one who desires to investigate a situation in the interests of scholarship , but the Indians seized and threw the poor gentleman to the ground and when Mr Septimus followed , armed with a boathook and fiery with indignation , as having a measure of savage clearsightedness they could undoubtedly see , they prepared for the kill . 
Certainly there would have been a painful resolution of our existence but for the mysterious intervention to which I have alluded . 
I had more than half expected that Mrs Caine , if and when she appeared in our midst , would make with her raised hand a sign of power ; she did nothing of the kind . 
She came from her tent indeed , with Mr Gilberto , both of them cool as you wish ; but though at sight of them the Indians made a curious hissing noise like the noise of snakes and poised their spears with a view to hurling or stabbing , having first no doubt dispatched those of us they already held , our host and his lady seemed to have no resource but a kind of personal immunity . 
It was scarcely a moment in which I expected to be reminded of another book that is frequently in my mind , Through the Looking-glass , in which , it will be remembered , as two characters are about to engage in battle a fierce , black bird , a crow of unusual size , appears over the wood , putting an end to the quarrel by its formidable aspect . 
In just such a manner there now showed itself over our heads , not with noise and menace but in silence more frightening than thunder , a great bird not black but white , as it were an eagle ; and when , having circled , it rose and returned into the starry sky the Indians , if Indians they were , had vanished . 
Believe it or not . 
I have only to add that Mrs Caine dressed our cuts and scratches with medicaments from her little box while Mr Gilberto held his hand over them with effect that I myself felt a kind of radiant heat . 
3 
" IS this the place ? " asked Lord Undertone , peering about for vestiges of a golden temple or like portent . 
" Is this where the feller jumped in , Gilberto ? " 
We were gathered at the edge of a cliff perhaps three hundred feet over a lake , deep in the Cordillera . 
" { Es posible que ... 
I mean ... " 
But Mr Gilberto broke off . 
" What do you say , Feather ? " 
"It is always told that where the man of gold plunged in his image is to be seen under the surface , " she said . 
" Nothing there , " said his lordship , gazing down the wall of clean rock that reflected mountain and forest , the cliff and our own peeping faces . 
It was such a lake , remote and magical , as well might have been the scene of some legendary event , though I imagine that the landscape must have looked very different in those far-off days . 
We came to it riding muleback along wooded slopes ; and agreeable it was after that humid , malodorous journey by river and swamp , for as the path ascended the climate grew temperate and the vegetation , so Canon Pluckley said , subtropical , characteristically so , although I myself should have described it as fairylike . 
Here then we were , disposed in a commodious hut built of pine-logs or some such timber , on the shore of the lake at a point where it debouched in a stream that must find its way , I supposed to the distant Atlantic ; around us abundant provision of fruit , fish and if we desired it duck . 
I had a distinct impression that the hut had recently been cleaned and prepared for visitors . 
Mrs Caine said we were to go no further unless and until we were sent for , confirming another impression that became more and more definite , namely , that she was in touch with an invisible source of authority . 
Naturally her words stimulated an already lively interest in the near future and as usual Lord Undertone could not refrain from questions . 
" Sent for ? " 
His gaze examined the hut . 
" No telephone . 
No wireless . 
No ... " 
It dawned on him . 
" Stupid of me ! 
Tele-what-d'you-call-it of course ! " 
Mrs Caine smiled and with this all of us must be content . 
For my own part I should have been ready to remain here several days , collecting my wits so to speak , arranging my expectations , though wondering if Sally could be brought here by aeroplane , as I am unwilling to undertake any adventure without her ; not that there was any place where even a vertical landing could be effected . 
Sally and of course Mrs Septimus , for surely Mr Septimus stood in the same case as myself ? 
But was it so ? 
I allowed myself to entertain for an instant the idea , the strange , the unwelcome , the almost inconceivable idea , that Ariadne 's arrival would be inopportune ; and with the idea came a somewhat vulgar impulse , which I refused , to watch Mr Septimus more closely , Mrs Caine too and Mr Gilberto who would surely show some anxiety by now if he noticed anything untoward . 
But all three were to the casual observation I permitted myself unruffled ; Mr Septimus reserved and certainly very thoughtful , but that was his habit . 
Indeed we were all invaded by a most tranquil mood . 
Even the Indian servants relaxed , knowing , so Mr Gilberto told us , that the wild and savage tribes never approached this region : at any rate they remained with us , perhaps for such protection as our presence , or Mrs Caine 's , afforded , sticking rather to their quarters , going no further than the beach to fish , whereas we ourselves explored the whole neighbourhood , half , I think with an eye to fabulous remains . 
But after what Mrs Caine had said it was never far from our minds that at any moment we were to receive a summons . 
I could see that Mr Septimus was impatient for it . 
This afternoon , then , we climbed a promontory , a mass of clean rock crowned with trees and bushes , that stood well out over the lake . 
The thing about this great sheet of water on which we looked down was its astonishing stillness : it seemed to reflect not only its own dreamy shores , not only the forests of red-leaved trees on the mountainsides and the snowfields above , not only the sky but the invisible ground of being itself , as if a man should gather himself into himself and in meditation perceive what is otherwise imperceptible . 
Away to the right , far below , I could see one of our Indians fishing and I declare that the ripple his cast made was the only change in all that expanse . 
THE 2.20 FROM DINAS Start running punctual and — where are you ? 
BY E. L. MALPASS 
NO ONE has ever satisfactorily explained how a single-decker Welsh bus could have got itself into orbit . 
Shooting up over the pass a bit too carefree , and becoming airborne ? 
Caught by a sudden gust of wind ? 
A combination of the two ? 
No one seems to know . 
But the fact remains that get itself into orbit it did . 
And a fine old fuss there was about it , too . 
Here are the known facts . 
On 10th July , the bus , the 2.20 from Dinas to Llangrwl , left Dinas at two-thirty-five as usual . 
Aboard , apart from the crew , were Mrs. Megan Thomas and her five-year-old son Cadwallader ; pretty little Morfydd Owen ; Mr. Stanley Hayball and Miss Ethel Yates , hikers from Birmingham ; Price the Provisions ; and the Rev. Edwards . 
Yes , the bus set out from Dinas . 
So much is established . 
Ifor Huw Evans , Propr. , watched it go from the windows of the Dinas Motor Omnibus Co . 
Very interested , Ifor was . 
For there was his garage hand , Dai Pugh , taking a tearful farewell of Morfydd Owen . 
Morfydd , who had until recently been Ifor 's typist , but was now returning to her home town as a fully-fledged schoolteacher . 
" But I 'm only going fifteen miles away , " Morfydd was saying . 
" Not the end of the world , is it ? " 
"For me it is , " Dai said wretchedly , wiping his hands on his overalls preparatory to a last embrace . 
" You will not be remembering a mere garage hand when you are lording it over the Mixed Infants of Llangrwl . " 
"Silly boy , " said Morfydd . 
Though she could not help wondering whether , now she had qualified as a schoolteacher , poor little Dai was quite the man for her . 
A nice boy of course . 
But perhaps in the new world she was entering there might be boys equally nice , and with far more to offer . 
The conductor rang his bell . 
" Good-bye , Dai , " said Morfydd , smiling from the bottom step . 
" Good-bye , Morfydd . " 
He sought to enfold her in his arms . 
But he was too late . 
She was already up the bus steps , and the bus was away . 
And Morfydd Owen waving , unkissed , from the window . 
And Dai , on the pavement , knowing in his heart that Morfydd was leaving him as surely as she was leaving Dinas . 
So the bus set out for Llangrwl . 
But it never reached there ! 
Somewhere , on those fifteen miles of mountain roads , it disappeared from the earthly scene . 
The first intimation that all was not well came when a Mr. Isaiah Roberts , landlord of The Traveller 's Joy , rang up the Dinas Motor Omnibus Co. to ask what had happened to their damn bus . 
" Left here all right , " said Ifor . 
" Two-thirty-five , on the dot . " 
"It 's supposed to leave at two-twenty . " 
"Who says so ? " 
"Your timetable . " 
"Do n't want to take too much notice of those old timetables , " Ifor said , reasonably . 
" Start running punctual and where are you ? 
People get left behind , is n't it ? 
Very exasperating for one and all . " 
Exasperated is what Mr. Roberts sounded . 
" But it 's over an hour late , now . 
And me due in Llangrwl ten minutes ago for a meeting of the Licensed Victualler 's Association . " 
Shaken , Ifor Evans was . 
But not showing it , mind . 
" Must n't expect too much on these Welsh roads , must we now ? " he said , very conciliatory . 
" Not on the M1 , are we ? " 
"And what are you going to do about it ? " 
Tendentious , Mr. Roberts sounded . 
" What do you want me to do ? 
Send out a sheriff 's posse , is it ? " 
No sense of humour , that Isaiah . 
He banged down the receiver . 
Very uncivil . 
Dropped the mask , now , Ifor did . 
" Dai Pugh , " he bellowed . 
" Leap on your bicycle and scour the countryside between here and The Traveller 's Joy . 
The two-twenty to Llangrwl has failed to complete her mission . " 
Paled , did Dai . 
For the two-twenty carried , for him , a cargo more precious than jewels . 
Though Mofydd Owen was , as he feared , departed out of his life , he still loved her dearly . 
Already , even as with trembling fingers he fastened his trouser clips , he was seeing her lying in some dreadful ravine , or beset by robbers , or being whisked off to Emergency Ward 10 . 
But even his imagination , luckily for him , did not visualise the awful truth — that Morfyyd Owen was already qualifying for the title of " First Woman to Enter Space . " 
"Where are we going , Mam ? " inquired little Cadwallader when his child mind grasped the fact that the green earth was falling away at a rate of knots . 
Where indeed ? 
Megan Thomas spoke sharply to the conductor , demanding an explanation . 
But nonplussed , the conductor was . 
A good man , mind ; knew his job . 
But out of depth in this particular instance . 
Fingered his ticket-punch nervously . 
Peered out of the window . 
Went and consulted the driver . 
" Where are we going ? " he echoed Cadwallader . 
" Damned if I know , boy , " said the driver . 
" But something very untoward has happened , if you ask me . " 
Immersed in the Dinas Advertiser , was the Rev. Edwards . 
Now he put down his paper , folded it , and glanced idly out of the window . 
Looked again , eyes starting from his head . 
" God bless my immortal soul , " he cried . 
" Never mind your immortal soul , " said Megan Thomas tartly . 
" Here we are traversing the heavens at the very moment when we should be running into Llangrwl bus station . 
And no one doing the first thing about it . " 
Stung , the conductor was . 
" What you expect me to do ? " he inquired , bitter . 
" Radio Flying Control at London Airport , is it ? " 
"Mutual recriminations will get us nowhere , " boomed the Rev. Edwards . 
" It 's all very well , " commented Mr. Hayball from the back seat . 
" But Eth and me wanted to be at the Youth Hostel before dark . " 
Morfydd Owen was silent . 
But she looked down at the fast-disappearing earth , and it seemed to her that she would never see her Dai again . 
And though half an hour ago she had regarded this possibility with fortitude , it now filled her with dismay . 
Quietly she began to weep ... 
Dai , meanwhile , was pedalling furiously on the road . 
Not a sign of the bus . 
He passed The Traveller 's Joy . 
At last he caught up Mr. Roberts , walking very dogged towards Llangrwl . 
" Afternoon , Mr. Roberts , " he called , polite , as he shot past . 
His spirits were rising . 
He had seen no sign of an accident . 
Therefore Mr. Roberts must have been mistaken . 
He would find the bus safe and sound in Llangrwl , and his dear Morfydd quietly having tea in her own home . 
But disappointment awaited him . 
A restive queue of people in the bus station , waiting to be transported to Dinas . 
And when he went to Morfydd 's house , all he found was Morfydd 's mam , working herself up proper ... 
Getting dark , now . 
The conductor switched on the lights . 
The beleaguered passengers peered out of the windows . 
Little to be seen , only a few lone stars , and the distant earth brooding in her shroud of mist . 
Megan Thomas sat tight-lipped , nursing the sleeping Cadwallader . 
Driver and conductor peered ahead into nothingness . 
On the back seat Stan Hayball embraced his Eth . 
Morfydd thought of Dai . 
The Rev. Edwards , standing at the front , looked at his forlorn flock . 
" What about a verse or two of { Cwm Rhondda ? " he suggested hopefully . 
They looked at him , sullen . 
His heart sank . 
If the Welsh found the situation too desperate for singing , then the situation , he realised , must be desperate indeed . 
But suddenly they were roused from their lethargy . 
Something was approaching , faster , faster , a tearing hurrying blur that was past and gone in a moment , followed by a great rush of sound . 
They waved frantically . 
But the jet aircraft was already miles away , swinging down to the darkening earth . 
"It passed me at fifty thousand feet , sir . 
It was climbing steadily . " 
Group Captain Llewelyn Jones , Officer Commanding R.A.F. Station , Dinas , looked keenly at the Flying Officer who had burst so unceremoniously into his office . 
" And what did it look like , Broughtons ? 
Some sort of rocket ? " 
Flying Officer Broughtons shuffled his feet . 
" Well , actually , sir , it looked like — like a bus . 
A single-decker , " he elaborated . 
Daggers , the Group Captain looked . 
" Broughtons , " he said silkily . 
" Did n't they teach you at Cranwell that buses are earth-bound creatures ? 
Aeroplanes fly , Broughtons . 
Buses crawl . " 
Very pale , Broughtons was . 
But determined . 
" It was a bus , sir . 
They 'd got the lights on . 
There were people inside . 
Waving . " 
Like gimlets , the Station Commander 's eyes . 
" Did you see the indicator board ? " 
"Yes , sir . " 
"And what did it say ? 
Mystery Tour ? " 
Oh , very caustic , that Group Captain . 
But Broughtons stood his ground . 
" No , sir . 
It said Llangrwl . " 
Llewelyn Jones sat back in his chair . 
" I see . 
So you met a bus at fifty thousand feet . 
All lit up . 
Full of people waving as you went past . " 
Suddenly he crouched forward . 
" Broughtons , if I thought there were anything in Queen 's Regulations to cover this , I 'd have you court-martialled . 
But I know there is n't , " he ended sadly . 
" I tried to read the registration number , sir . 
But it was getting dark . " 
He waited . 
But his commanding officer appeared to have forgotten him . 
He saluted , and left the presence , very crestfallen ... 
Time passed . 
The bus climbed , and went quietly into orbit . 
Time passed . 
The Rev. Edwards ' pulpit remained empty . 
And so did the arms of Dai Pugh . 
How could they be otherwise , when his beloved was circling the Poles at three-and-a-quarter-hour intervals , regular as clockwork ? 
Time passed . 
Everyone said , " Pity about Megan Thomas , is n't it , " as though they did n't really think it was a pity at all ; as , indeed , they did n't . 
LOCAL BUS DISAPPEARS 
announced the Dinas Advertiser . 
But the London papers ignored the whole affair . 
Ifor Evans reported his loss to the police . 
But they only tut-tutted . 
" Lost a bus , is it . 
Very careless . " 
That was their attitude . 
Now if there 'd been a good old accident , they could have measured up the road and taken an interest . 
But losing a bus ! 
People were always losing things . 
You 'd be surprised , they said . 
So it seemed , for a time , that the whole affair would be written off as one of those unexplained mysteries , like the Marie Celeste . 
Then things began to happen ... 
But what about the voyagers ? you will be asking . 
Well , the Rev. Edwards had taken command . 
" Our position , " he said , " is somewhat analogous to that of a castaway on a desert island . 
Now what does such a person do ? 
He signals his position by lighting bonfires or hoisting a flag on a palm tree . 
And he tries to ensure a supply of food . " 
"Ca n't go lighting bonfires on this bus , " the conductor said firmly . 
" Contrary to the Company 's Regulations . " 
"Of course not , " agreed the minister . 
" No , we have another way of signalling our position . 
The driver must sound his horn continuously . " 
Gave him a look , the driver did . 
" Where you think we are ? " he asked rudely . 
" Dinas High Street ? " 
"Do as I say , driver . " 
Very stern , the reverend gentleman was . 
So the driver peep-peeped as though he were edging his way through a herd of cows , instead of hurtling through empty space . 
" Thank you , " the Rev. Edwards said courteously . 
" Secondly , we must pool and ration our supplies of food , if any . " 
He looked at Price the Provisions , who was nursing a great basket . 
" Now , who has any food ? " he asked hopefully . 
Stared back did Price the Provisions , unwinking . 
" Mr. Price , I think you may be able to help us here , " said the Rev. Edwards . 
Price shook his head . 
" Intended for Plas Newydd , this lot is . 
Paid for , too . " 
He folded his arms protectively over the basket . 
Mutinous dog , thought the Rev. Edwards , who had n't enjoyed himself so much since reading Treasure Island . 
" What have you got in that basket , Price ? " he roared . 
Quelled , Mr. Price pulled out a grocery list , pushed his glasses up on his nose , and began to read . 
" Six loaves , four pounds butter , two pounds marge , one tin pineapple , one York ham . " 
"Then we are saved , " cried the Rev. Edwards . 
Shyly , Morfydd Owen produced a block of chocolate . 
ALLAMAGOOSA Eric Frank Russell 
This is a story of a space-ship commander who faces an inspection by an Inspector of Stores — and the Inspector is a Rear-Admiral who can not bear the thought of a space-ship that is short of even the most minute item of equipment . 
The commander discovers he is short of an " offog " . 
That is bad enough . 
But he himself does n't know what an " offog " is ! 
IT was a long time since the Bustler had been so silent . 
She lay in the Sirian spaceport , her tubes cold , her shell particle-scarred , her air that of a long-distance runner exhausted at the end of a marathon . 
There was good reason for this : she had returned from a lengthy trip by no means devoid of troubles . 
Now , in port , well-deserved rest had been gained if only temporarily . 
Peace , sweet peace . 
No more bothers , no more crises , no more major upsets , no more dire predicaments such as crop up in free flight at least twice a day . 
Just peace . 
Hah ! 
Captain McNaught reposed in his cabin , feet up on desk , and enjoyed the relaxation to the utmost . 
The engines were dead , their hellish pounding absent for the first time in months . 
Out there in the big city four hundred of his crew were making whoopee under a brilliant sun . 
This evening , when First Officer Gregory returned to take charge , he was going to go into the fragrant twilight to make the rounds of neon-lit civilization . 
That was the beauty of making landfall at long last . 
Men could give way to themselves , blow off surplus steam , each according to his fashion . 
No duties , no worries , no dangers , no responsibilities in spaceport . 
A haven of safety and comfort for tired rovers . 
Again , Hah ! 
Burman , the chief radio officer , entered the cabin . 
He was one of the half-dozen remaining on duty and bore the expression of a man who can think of twenty better things to do . 
" Relayed signal just come in sir . " 
Handing the paper across he waited for the other to look at it and perhaps dictate a reply . 
Taking the sheet McNaught removed the feet from his desk , sat erect and read the message aloud . 
Terran Headquarters to Bustler . 
Remain Siriport pending further orders . 
Rear Admiral Vane W. Cassidy due there seventeenth . 
Feldman . 
Navy Op . 
Command . 
Sirisec . 
He looked up , all happiness gone from his leathery features . 
" Oh , Lord ! " he groaned . 
" Something wrong ? " asked Burman , vaguely alarmed . 
McNaught pointed at three thin books on his desk . 
" The middle one . 
Page twenty . " 
Leafing through it , Burman found an item that said : 
Vane W. Cassidy , R-Ad . 
Head Inspector Ships and Stores . 
Burman swallowed hard . 
" Does that mean — ? " 
"Yes , it does , " said McNaught without pleasure . 
" Back to training-college and all its rigmarole . 
Paint and soap , spit and polish . " 
He put on an officious expression , adopted a voice to match it . 
" Captain , you have only seven-ninety-nine emergency rations . 
Your allocation is eight hundred . 
Nothing in your logbook accounts for the missing one . 
Where is it ? 
What happened to it ? 
How is it that one of the men 's kit lacks an officially-issued pair of suspenders ? 
Did you report his loss ? " 
"Why does he pick on us ? " asked Burman , appalled . 
" He 's never chivvied us before . " 
"That 's why , " informed McNaught , scowling at the wall . 
" It 's our turn to be stretched across the barrel . " 
His gaze found the calendar . 
" We have three days — and we 'll need 'em ! 
Tell Second Officer Pike to come here at once . " 
Burman departed gloomily . 
In a short time Pike entered . 
His face reaffirmed the old adage that bad news travels fast . 
" Make out an indent , " ordered McNaught , " for one hundred gallons of plastic paint , Navy-grey , approved quality . 
Make out another for thirty gallons of interior white enamel . 
Take them to spaceport stores right away . 
Tell them to deliver by six this evening along with our correct issue of brushes and sprayers . 
Grab up any cleaning material that 's going for free . " 
"The men wo n't like this , " remarked Pike feebly . 
" They 're going to love it , " McNaught asserted . 
" A bright and shiny ship , all spic and span , is good for morale . 
It says so in the book . 
Get moving and put those indents in . 
When you come back , find the stores and equipment sheets and bring them here . 
We 've got to check stocks before Cassidy arrives . 
Once he 's here we 'll have no chance to make up shortages or smuggle out any extra items we happened to find on our hands . " 
"Very well , sir . " 
Pike went out wearing the same expression as Burman 's . 
Lying back in his chair McNaught muttered to himself . 
There was a feeling in his bones that something was sure to cause a last minute ruckus . 
A shortage on any item would be serious enough unless covered by a previous report . 
A surplus would be bad , very bad . 
The former implied carelessness or misfortune . 
The latter suggested barefaced theft of government property in circumstances condoned by the commander . 
For instance , there was the recent case of Williams of the heavy cruiser Swift . 
He 'd heard of it over the spacevine when out around Bootes . 
Williams had been found in unwitting command of eleven reels of electric-fence wire when his official issue was ten . 
It had taken a court-martial to decide that the extra reel — which had formidable barter-value on a certain planet — had not been stolen from space-stores or , in sailor jargon , "teleportated aboard " . 
But Williams had been reprimanded . 
And that did not help promotion . 
He was still rumbling discontentedly when Pike returned bearing a folder of foolscap sheets . 
" Going to start right away , sir ? " 
"We 'll have to . " 
He heaved himself erect , mentally bidded good-bye to time off and a taste of the bright lights . 
" It 'll take long enough to work right through from bow to tail . 
I 'll leave the men 's kit inspections to the last . " 
Marching out of the cabin , he set forth towards the bow , Pike following with broody reluctance . 
As they passed the open main-lock Peaslake observed them , bounded eagerly up the gangway and joined behind . 
A pukka member of the crew , he was a large dog whose ancestors had been more enthusiastic than selective . 
He wore with pride a big collar inscribed : Peaslake — Property of S.S. Bustler . 
His chief duties , ably performed , were to keep alien rodents off the ship and , on rare occasions , smell out dangers not visible to human eyes . 
The three paraded forward , McNaught and Pike in the manner of men grimly sacrificing pleasure for the sake of duty , Peaslake with the panting willingness of one ready for any new game no matter what . 
Reaching the bow-cabin , McNaught dumped himself in the pilot 's seat , took the folder from the other . 
" You know this stuff better than me — the chart room is where I shine . 
So I 'll read them out while you look them over . " 
He opened the folder , started on the front page . 
" K1 . 
Beam Compass , type D , one of . " 
"Check , " said Pike . 
" K2 . 
Distance and direction indicator , electronic type JJ , one of . " 
"Check . " 
Peaslake planted his head in McNaught 's lap , blinked soulfully and whined . 
He was beginning to get the others ' viewpoint . 
This tedious itemizing and checking was a hell of a game . 
McNaught consolingly lowered a hand and played with Peaslake 's ears while he ploughed his way down the list . 
" K187 . 
Foam rubber cushions , pilot and co-pilot , one pair . " 
"Check . " 
By the time First Officer Gregory appeared they had reached the tiny intercom-cubby and poked around it in semi-darkness . 
Peaslake had long departed in disgust . 
" M24 . 
Spare minispeakers , three-inch type T2 , one set of six . " 
"Check . " 
Looking in , Gregory popped his eyes and said , " What the devil is going on ? " 
"Major inspection due soon . " 
McNaught glanced at his watch . 
" Go see if stores has delivered a load and if not why not . 
Then you 'd better give me a hand and let Pike take a few hours off . " 
"Does this mean land-leave is cancelled ? " 
"You bet it does — until after Hizonner has been and gone . " 
He glanced at Pike . 
" When you get into the city search around and send back any of the crew you can find . 
No arguments or excuses . 
It 's an order . " 
Pike registered unhappiness . 
Gregory glowered at him , went away , came back and said , " Stores will have the stuff here in twenty minutes ' time . " 
With bad grace he watched Pike depart . 
" M47 . 
Intercom cable , woven-wire protected , three drums . " 
"Check , " said Gregory , mentally kicking himself for returning at the wrong time . 
The task continued until late in the evening , was resumed early next morning . 
By that time three-quarters of the men were hard at work inside and outside the vessel , doing their jobs as though sentenced to them for crimes contemplated but not yet committed . 
Moving around the ship 's corridors and catwalks had to be done crab-fashion , with a nervous sidewise edging . 
Once again it was being demonstrated that the Terran life-form suffers from ye fear of wette paynt . 
The first smearer would have ten years willed off his unfortunate life . 
It was in these conditions , in mid-afternoon of the second day , that McNaught 's bones proved their feelings had been prophetic . 
He recited the ninth page while Jean Blanchard confirmed the presence and actual existence of all items enumerated . 
Two-thirds of the way down they hit the rocks , metaphorically speaking , and commenced to sink fast . 
McNaught said boredly , " V1097 . 
Drinking-bowl , enamel , one of . " 
" { 3Is zis , " said Blanchard , tapping it . 
" V1098 . 
Offog , one . " 
"Quoi ? " asked Blanchard , staring . 
" V1098 . 
Offog , one , " repeated McNaught . 
" Well , why are you looking thunderstruck ? 
This is the ship 's galley . 
You 're the head cook . 
You know what 's supposed to be in the galley , do n't you ? 
Where 's this offog ? " 
"{ 3Never hear of heem , " said Blanchard , flatly . 
" You must have done . 
It 's on this equipment-sheet in plain , clear type . 
Offog , one , it says . 
It was here when we were fitted-out four years ago . 
We checked it ourselves and signed for it . " 
"{ 3I signed for nossings called offog , " Blanchard denied . 
" { 3In zee cuisine zere is no such sing . " 
"Look ! " 
McNaught scowled and showed him the sheet . 
Blanchard looked and sniffed disdainfully. " { 3I have here zee electronic oven , one of . 
I have jacketed boilers , graduated capacities , one set . 
I have bain marie pans , seex of . 
But no offog . 
Never heard of heem . 
I do not know of heem . " 
He spread his hands and shrugged . 
" { 3No offog . " 
"There 's got to be , " McNaught insisted . 
" What 's more , when Cassidy arrives there 'll be hell to pay if there is n't . " 
"{ 3You find heem , " Blanchard suggested . 
" You got a certificate from the International Hotels School of Cookery . 
You got a certificate from the Cordon Bleu College of Cuisine . 
You got a certificate with three credits from the Space-Navy Feeding Centre , " McNaught pointed out . 
" All that — and you do n't know what an offog is . " 
"{ Nom d'un chien ! " ejaculated Blanchard , waving his arms around . 
" { 3I tell you ten t'ousand time zere is no offog . 
Zere never was an offog . 
Escoffier heemself could not find zee offog of vich zere is none . 
Am I a magician perhaps ? " 
"It 's part of the culinary equipment , " McNaught maintained . 
" It must be because it 's on page nine . 
And page nine means its proper home is in the galley , care of the head cook . " 
"{ 3Like hail it does , " Blanchard retorted . 
He pointed at a metal box on the wall . 
" { 3Intercom booster . 
Is zat mine ? " 
McNaught thought it over , conceded , " No , it 's Burman 's . 
His stuff rambles all over the ship . " 
"{ 3Zen ask him for zis offog , " said Blanchard , triumphantly . 
" I will . 
If it 's not yours it must be his . 
Let's finish this checking first . " 
His eyes sought the list . 
" V1099 . 
Inscribed collar , leather , brass studded , dog , for the use of . 
No need to look for that . 
I saw it myself five minutes ago . " 
He ticked the item , continued , " V1100 . 
Sleeping basket , woven reed , one of . " 
"{ 3Is zis , " said Blanchard , kicking it into a corner . 
" V1101 . 
Cushion , foam rubber , to fit sleeping basket , one of . " 
"Half of , " Blanchard contradicted . 
" { 3In four years he have chewed away other half . " 
"Maybe Cassidy will let us indent for a new one . " 
The Captives were painful to look on . 
All had some kind of deformity . 
One had no legs . 
One had no flesh on his lower jaw . 
One had four gnarled dwarf arms . 
One had short wings of flesh connecting ear lobes and thumbs , so that he lived perpetually with hands half raised to his face . 
One had boneless arms trailing at his side and one boneless leg . 
One had monstrous wings which trailed about him like a carpet . 
One was hiding his ill-shaped form away behind a screen of his own excrement , smearing it onto the transparent walls of his cell . 
And one had a second head , a small wizened thing growing from the first that fixed Lily-yo with a malevolent eye . 
This last Captive , who seemed to lead the others , spoke now , using the mouth of his main head . 
" I am the Chief Captive . 
I greet you . 
You are of the Heavy World . 
We are of the True World . 
Now you join us because you are of us . 
Though your wings and your scars are new , you may join us . " 
"I am Lily-yo . 
We three are humans . 
You are only flymen . 
We will not join you . " 
The Captives grunted in boredom . 
The Chief Captive spoke again . 
" Always this talk from you of the Heavy World ! 
You have joined us . 
You are flymen , we are human . 
You know little , we know much . " 
"But we — " 
" Stop your stupid talk , woman ! " 
"We are — " 
" Be silent , woman , and listen , " Band Appa Bondi said . 
" We know much , " repeated the Chief Captive . 
" Some things we will tell you . 
All who make the journey from the Heavy World become changed . 
Some die . 
Most live and grow wings . 
Between the worlds are many strong rays , not seen or felt , which change our bodies . 
When you come here , when you come to the True World , you become a true human . 
The grub of the tigerfly is not a tigerfly until it changes . 
So humans change . " 
"I can not know what he says , " Haris said stubbornly , throwing himself down . 
But Lily-yo and Flor were listening . 
" To this True World , as you call it , we come to die , " Lily-yo said , doubtingly . 
The Captive with the fleshless jaw said , " The grub of the tigerfly thinks it dies when it changes into a tigerfly . " 
"You are still young , " said the Chief Captive . 
" You begin newly here . 
Where are your souls ? " 
Lily-yo and Flor looked at each other . 
In their flight from the wiltmilt they had heedlessly thrown down their souls . 
Haris had trampled on his . 
It was unthinkable ! 
" You see . 
You needed them no more . 
You are still young . 
You may be able to have babies . 
Some of those babies may be born with wings . " 
The Captive with the boneless arms added , " Some may be born wrong , as we are . 
Some may be born right . " 
"You are too foul to live ! " 
Haris growled . 
" Why are you not killed ? " 
"Because we know all things , " the Chief Captive said . 
Suddenly his second head roused itself and declared , " To be a good shape is not all in life . 
To know is also good . 
Because we can not move well we can — think . 
This tribe of the True World is good and knows these things . 
So it lets us rule it . " 
Flor and Lily-yo muttered together . 
" Do you say that you poor Captives rule the True World ? " 
Lily-yo asked at last . 
" We do . " 
"Then why are you captives ? " 
The flyman with ear lobes and thumbs connected , making his perpetual little gesture of protest , spoke for the first time . 
" To rule is to serve , woman . 
Those who bear power are slaves to it . 
Only an outcast is free . 
Because we are Captives , we have the time to talk and think and plan and know . 
Those who know command the knives of others . " 
"No hurt will come to you , Lily-yo , " Band Appa Bondi added . 
" You will live among us and enjoy your life free from harm . " 
"No ! " the Chief Captive said with both mouths . 
" Before she can enjoy , Lily-yo and her companion Flor — this other man creature is plainly useless — must help our great plan . " 
"The invasion ? " 
Bondi asked . 
" What else ? 
Flor and Lily-yo , you arrive here at a good time . 
Memories of the Heavy World and its savage life are still fresh in you . 
We need such memories . 
So we ask you to go back there on a great plan we have . " 
"Go back ? " gasped Flor . 
" Yes . 
We plan to attack the Heavy World . 
You must help to lead our force . " 
6 
The long afternoon of eternity wore on , that long golden road of an afternoon that would somewhere lead to everlasting night . 
Motion there was , but motion without event — except for those negligible events that seemed so large to the creatures participating in them . 
For Lily-yo , Flor and Haris there were many events . 
Chief of these was that they learned to fly properly . 
The pains associated with their wings soon died away as the wonderful new flesh and tendon strengthened . 
To sail up in the light gravity became an increasing delight — the ugly flopping movements of flymen on the Heavy World had no place here . 
They learned to fly in packs , and then to hunt in packs . 
In time they were trained to carry out the Captives ' plan . 
The series of accidents that had first delivered humans to this world in burnurns had been a fortunate one , growing more fortunate as millennia tolled away . 
For gradually the humans adapted better to the True World . 
Their survival factor became greater , their power surer . 
And all this as on the Heavy World conditions grew more and more adverse to anything but the giant vegetables . 
Lily-yo at least was quick to see how much easier life was in these new conditions . 
She sat with Flor and a dozen others eating pulped pluggyrugg , before they did the Captives ' bidding and left for the Heavy World . 
It was hard to express all she felt . 
" Here we are safe , " she said , indicating the whole green land that sweltered under the silver network of webs . 
" Except from the tigerflies , " Flor agreed . 
They rested on a bare peak , where the air was thin and even the giant creepers had not climbed . 
The turbulent green stretched away below them , almost as if they were on Earth — although here it was continually checked by the circular formations of rock . 
" This world is smaller , " Lily-yo said , trying again to make Flor know what was in her head . 
" Here we are much bigger . 
We do not need to fight so much . " 
"Soon we must fight . " 
"Then we can come back here again . 
This is a good place , with nothing so savage and with not so many enemies . 
Here the groups could live without so much fear . 
Veggy and Toy and May and Gren and the other little ones would like it here . " 
"They would miss the trees . " 
"We shall soon miss the trees no longer . 
We have wings instead . " 
This idle talk took place beneath the unmoving shadow of a rock . 
Overhead , silver blobs against a purple sky , the transversers went , walking their networks , descending only occasionally to the celeries far below . 
As Lily-yo fell to watching these creatures , she thought in her mind of the grand plan the Captives had hatched , she flicked it over in a series of vivid pictures . 
Yes , the Captives knew . 
They could see ahead as she could not . 
She and those about her had lived like plants , doing what came . 
The Captives were not plants . 
From their cells they saw more than those outside . 
This , the Captives saw : that the few humans who reached the True World bore few children , because they were old , or because the rays that made their wings grow made their seeds die : that it was good here , and would be better still with more humans ; that one way to get more humans here was to bring babies and children from the Heavy World . 
For countless time , this had been done . 
Brave flymen had travelled back to that other world and stolen children . 
The flymen who had once attacked Lily-yo 's group on their climb to the Tips had been on that mission . 
They had taken Bain to bring her to the True World in burnurns — and had not been heard of since . 
Many perils and mischances lay in that long double journey . 
Of those who set out , few returned . 
Now the Captives had thought of a better and more daring scheme . 
" Here comes a traverser , " Band Appa Bondi said . 
" Let us be ready to move . " 
He walked before the pack of twelve flyers who had been chosen for this new attempt . 
He was the leader . 
Lily-yo , Flo and Haris were in support of him , together with eight others , three male , five female . 
Only one of them , Band Appa Bondi himself , had been carried to the True World as a boy . 
Slowly the pack stood up , stretching their wings . 
The moment for their great adventure was here . 
Yet they felt little fear ; they could not look ahead as the Captives did , except perhaps for Band Appa Bondi and Lily-yo . 
She strengthened her will by saying , " It is the way . " 
Then they all spread their arms wide and soared off to meet the traverser . 
The traverser had eaten . 
It had caught one of its most tasty enemies , a tigerfly , in a web , and had sucked it till only a shell was left . 
Now it sank down into a bed of celeries , crushing them under its great bulk . 
Gently , it began to bud . 
Afterwards , it would head out for the great black gulfs , where heat and radiance called it . 
It had been born on this world . 
Being young , it had never yet made that dreaded , desired journey . 
Its buds burst up from its back , hung over , popped , fell to the ground , and scurried away to bury themselves in the pulp and dirt where they might begin their ten thousand years ' growth in peace . 
Young though it was , the traverser was sick . 
It did not know this . 
The enemy tigerfly had been at it , but it did not know this . 
Its vast bulk held little sensation . 
The twelve humans glided down and landed on its back , low down on the abdomen in a position hidden from the creature 's cluster of eyes . 
They sank among the tough shoulder-high fibres that served the traverser as hair , and looked about them . 
A ray-plane swooped overhead and disappeared . 
A trio of tumbleweeds skittered into the fibres and were seen no more . 
All was as quiet as if they lay on a small deserted hill . 
At length they spread out and moved along in a line , heads down , eyes searching , Band Appa Bondi at one end , Lily-yo at the other . 
The great body was streaked and pitted and scarred , so that progress down the slope was not easy . 
The fibre grew in patterns of different shades , green , yellow , black , breaking up the traverser 's bulk when seen from the air , serving it as natural camouflage . 
In many places , tough parasitic plants had rooted themselves , drawing their nourishment entirely from their host ; most of them would die when the traverser launched itself out between worlds . 
The humans worked hard . 
Once they were thrown flat when the traverser changed position . 
As the slope down which they moved grew steeper , so progress became more slow . 
" Here ! " cried Y Coyin , one of the women . 
At last they had found what they sought , what the Captives sent them to seek . 
Clustering round Y Coyin with their knives out , the pack looked down . 
Here the fibres had been neatly champed away in swathes , leaving a bare patch as far across as a human was long . 
In this patch was a round scab . 
Lily-yo felt it . 
It was immensely hard . 
Lo Jint put his ear to it . 
Silence . 
They looked at each other . 
No signal was needed , none given . 
Together they knelt , prising with their knives round the scab . 
Once the traverser moved , and they threw themselves flat .