Charles H. Davis

“ The two Alarians floated motionless in the water of their lifeboat, each immersed in his own thoughts. Shaking off his lethargy, Ekrado began to make a routine check of the condition of the heat ray cannon. Mechanically, he went over the apparatus, his mind still on their problem. The cannon was, of course, in perfect condition.
"Clackety-clack-clack-clack," chattered the Konald detector.
"Metal!" exclaimed Ekrado in surprise.
"Large masses of it," echoed Ronaro.
"Here in the surface waters. That can only mean...."
"Intelligent life," the two minds chorused. ”

“ After the futile search had gone on for several hours, Ronaro was struck with a sudden idea.
"Perhaps the intelligent races of this planet are deep-sea creatures," he suggested.
"It's possible," mused Ekrado. "So far I've been cruising pretty much at our own favorite depth."
"This lifeboat can stand tremendous pressure."
"We'll try it," decided Ekrado. The slender shape of the lifeboat wheeled over until it was pointing straight down toward the ocean bottom. ”

“ The two Alarians drifted in telepathic silence, Ekrado closing his eyes and concentrating his mental efforts at reaching the alien mind. Ronaro studied the creature as it swam unconcernedly past searching for food.
"Hunts his food in primitive fashion," he reflected silently, careful not to destroy Ekrado's concentration. "Apparently his people do not have shellfish farms. Or possibly he is simply hunting for the fun of it or in order to be alone. He has twice as many tentacles as an Alarian, but mere physical difference proves nothing. ”

“ Each time hope rose again; and each time it came to nothing. Each such creature inspired in them a strange medley of emotions, a sense of kinship and yet of repugnance, a feeling at once of benevolence toward a more backward cousin mixed with exasperation. ”

“ Deep under the water's surface, the craft leveled off and slowed until it drifted idly.
"Take an instrument reading," ordered Ekrado. "Let us see what kind of a hydrosphere this planet has. It looks good enough."
"It is not as good as it looks," reported Ronaro grimly. "The temperature and pressure are satisfactory, but the chemical content of the water is poisonous. It would kill us in a few minutes."
"That means we must depend on our water-purifying plant as long as we are on this planet—or as long as it holds out. They aren't built to last forever." ”

“ We could rebuild anything, just so they have the power."
"I believe we could," replied Ronaro, caught by his Captain's enthusiasm.
"Right! Our first step must be to find intelligent life on one of the planets of this sun. We must start by searching the waters of this world."
Ekrado threw the throttle-lever forward slightly and the ship moved ever more rapidly through the water. Straight ahead he drove it while the two Alarians concentrated every attention on the vision screens in the hope of sighting intelligent life. ”

“ They'll track every one of us down."
"A torpedo is heading directly for us now," reported Ronaro.
"At least one boat must get through to carry our message," stated Ekrado flatly.
"What do you propose—a sacrifice?"
"Set the heat ray projector for a narrow fan beam and slice the nearest lifeboat into two parts," ordered the Captain.
Ronaro's tentacles fairly boiled the water as he made the necessary adjustments. A thousand miles behind them, the closest lifeboat from their stricken vessel glowed briefly around its equator and fell apart into two halves that gradually spread apart. ”

“ Ronaro replied after a few moments of intense concentration. "Their minds cannot receive our thought impulses."
"We've got to attract their attention. After they have seen us we'll be able to work out some method of communication." ”