Evelyn E. Smith

“ Harnick's anger was lost in shock. "You mean you've been giving them your rations? But surely there wasn't that much food, even with the emergency stores!"
"Well," said Judy, "they don't eat as much as we do, of course. And you'd be surprised how tasty the native roots are. We've grown quite fond of them; in fact, I doubt whether we'd be able to stomach terrestrial food by now."
The odor from the pot grew stronger and even less appetizing. There was nothing wrong with either the light, Harnick realized, or his eyes. The faces of the four members of the survey team were really quite blue. ”

“ Judy linked her arm through the captain's as she drew him through the cottage. "They're not only remarkably intelligent, but talented. Don't they sing beautifully? And you should see the murals they've done!"
"The natives!" Suspicion became certainty. "Then this," the captain thundered, pointing to the neat rows of stone houses, "is their work. You've enslaved them!"
"But you said there was no intelligent life on this planet, sir," Wilkins protested, bewildered.
The captain shrugged. "The fauna didn't seem to be intelligent, but the preliminary survey was sketchy. We may have been mistaken. ”

“ Harnick protested, knowing it was no use, "the Earth Government's intention was only to use Furbish as a fueling and repair station."
"Fuel!" Judy snorted. "I don't know whether it would even be right to let the government ships land here. Those coarse, uncultured crews might contaminate our natives; they're so impressionable, you know."
"But isn't it wonderful," Jane, the peacemaker, put in, "how they've thrived on terrestrial food. I think that must have a lot to do with the remarkable way they've developed." ”

“ Had there been birds on Furbish, they would have been singing. "If the natives turn out to be intelligent enough," Judy murmured dreamily, "we could really be queens—and kings, of course—for five years. ”

“ It was only fear of authority that motivated her reluctance; there was no question in her mind but that any creatures who looked so much like brownies must be capable of whatever brownies could do, and everyone knew that brownies were marvellous for housework.
"The captain must be light years away by now! And we're not going to see him for another four years and eight months objective time anyhow." Judy's black eyes flashed. "Why shouldn't we try to make use of the natives and, at the same time, uplift them? We pay taxes, don't we?" ”

“ She began busily to pull cans off the shelves.
"But you know, Captain Harnick said they weren't people, so maybe they can't eat the same kinds of things we do. Our soup might be poison for them."
"Being poisoned isn't worse than being starved." Judy expertly manipulated a can opener. "Not much worse anyway," she amended. "It's a chance we'll have to take."
"You mean it's a chance they'll have to take." Jane herself thought that porridge would be better, because everyone knew how mad brownies were for porridge, but it was always easiest to let Judy have her own way. ”

“ Ned and Dan agreed.
"Now comes the part about the natives," Judy said to Jane in what might have been intended as a whisper. They nodded at each other.
Captain Harnick managed to keep his temper by reminding himself that he wasn't going to see the whole lot of them again for five years. "As far as we know from Commander Furbish's preliminary survey, there are no hostile life-forms on the planet. However, it might be as well to take precautions." ”

“ Do not, on the one hand, attempt to domesticate them, or, on the other to hunt them ... for food or any other purpose."
Judy and Jane gave indignant gasps.
"Your attitude toward the indigenous life-forms is a most important factor." The captain looked fiercely at the girls. It was the women, he had found, who tended to cause most trouble in this area. "The Terrestrial Government does not wish to assume responsibility for any local fauna. All we want of Furbish is to check it, map it, and establish one small station here; is that clear?"
"Yessir," the survey team said. ”

“ Judy told him. "It simply had never occurred to them to communicate, because they hadn't anything to say at that time."
"But we gave them something to say," Jane added happily.
"And something to do, also," the captain grunted. "You've exploited the poor beasts. Making them build houses and—"
"Don't misunderstand, captain," Dan said, with a peculiar smile. "The natives aren't exploited. They love what they're doing ... and what's being done for them."
"And besides," Ned contributed, "it was we who built the houses for them. Shame they should have to live in caves like animals. ”

“ Judy ran to tug at her prostrate comrade, but Jane, although more slender, was taller, and weighed a lot in the heat suit. Moreover, she was so stiff with fright that she couldn't move.
The radio continued to squawk, "Copter calling cottage! Can you hear us? What's the matter?" Judy straightened up and looked about her wildly. "Copter calling cottage. Copter—"
She ran over to the radio and threw the switch. "Cottage to copter," she replied, gasping for breath. "Everything's just fine."
"Help. Ju-dee!" Jane screamed again, just before Judy switched the set over. ”

“ That still doesn't make them people. Still less does it make them our responsibility. How long are you proposing to run this soup kitchen, dear? You know, we were left with food supplies for four, not forty, or four hundred."
"They don't eat as much as we do," Jane put in, obviously quoting, "because of being smaller. And there are a lot of emergency stores in case Captain Harnick and the ship never come back, on account of being eaten by monsters or something. ”

“ On their last mission, the two young men had been absorbed in mapping an interesting valley in the north polar regions—a pursuit which they had no intention of giving up. A few days after they had finished the work, therefore, they announced their intention of taking the helicopter out again. ”