Dorothy De Courcy

“ He finally persuaded the Chief of the natives to talk the situation over with him."
Goma growled deeply in his barrel chest. "You have land. Why want you more?"
Thurwinker hesitated, trying to phrase the proper answer in Goma's language. "This land not good," he said, pointing to the crater. Then turning, "this land, good. We want good land."
"You cannot have land," Goma replied with classic simplicity.
"I gave you many things for bad land," Thurwinker answered. "I will give you more for good land."
"I not want things," Goma stated. "I keep land." ”

“ Roy hesitated but Goma held up his hand again, making cutting motions. Roy selected a few more strands of hair. As he cut, Goma's breath hissed in sharply and his hands clutched the sides of the chair. On the third cut, Goma's body relaxed and his eyes closed.
Thurwinker rushed to his side. He looked at him for a minute and then ran to the door. "Quick," he said to one of the miners. "Get Dr. Bowen!"
The natives outside began to mutter angrily. Thurwinker dashed back to the barber chair. "Go ahead," he hissed. "Keep cutting! Don't let the natives think anything's gone wrong!" ”

“ The Franklin was the newest and best ship of the Morgan Interstellar Transportation Corporation. It was plain from the Captain's pouter-pigeon stance that he too was aware of this fact. The only jarring note in Captain Webster's mind was the unscheduled stop at Procyon IV. He glanced again at the yellow blank in his hand, his lips moving slightly as he re-read it.
"Captain Webster, Commanding S. S. Franklin, enroute to earth. Make contact with Procyon IV. Passenger for earth waiting at Iridium City. Necessary time will be allowed on your schedule. ”

“ Sam smiled. "No. I've been dreaming about this haircut for ages. Just tell me where my cabin is and take me to the barber shop!"
The spaceman nodded and picked up Sam's bag. Sam followed him down the companionway to the barber shop.
"Your stateroom is L-14, sir," the spaceman said. "It's the last cabin on the left at the end of this companionway."
"Thank you," Sam replied as he stepped into the shop.
The barber closed the book he was reading and jumped up. "Yes sir. What can—" He broke off in mid-sentence and gawked stupidly.
"I don't want a manicure," Sam chuckled as he slid into the chair. ”

“ The survey figured that the whole meteorite was composed of iridium and, as it turned out, they were right."
"Mr. Thurwinker, the government agent," Sam continued, "started out right away dickering with the natives. It wasn't too hard to do cause they look a lot like us, considering what most of the inhabitants of other planets look like. Anyway, Thurwinker traded off half a ship load of gew-gaws and we got the crater.
"Our supplies started coming in and on the first ship was Roy, the barber. We built up a little town, the typical mining settlement, and got things pretty much underway. ”

“ Dr. Bowen explained. "It has a hard covering just like our hair, the center is hollow and contains a little fluid, but floating in this fluid is a nerve."
"A what!"
"A nerve," the doctor answered, "just like in our teeth. ”