by Edward Elmer Smith and Edward Everett Evans

“ You aren't head of your department because you don't want to be. You fooled the top psychs of the Board. You've been running ninety per cent submerged because you can work better that way and there's no glory-hound blood in you. ”

“ The temperature of the land surface was everywhere about 100°F, that of the water about 90°F. Each continent had one city, and both were small. One was inhabited by what looked like human beings; the other by usuform robots. The human city was the only cool spot on the entire planet; under its protective dome the temperature was 71°F.
Hilton decided to study the robots first; and asked the captain to take the ship down to observation range. Sawtelle objected; and continued to object until Hilton started to order his arrest. ”

“ In the Perseus, four scientists and three Navy officers were arguing heatedly; employing deep-space verbiage not to be found in any dictionary. “Jarve!” Karns called out, and Hilton joined the group. “Does anything about this planet make any sense to you?” ”

“ The Navy crew is normal, except for the commanders being unusually young. But we aren't. None of us is thirty yet, and none of us has ever been married. You fellows look like a team of professional athletes, and you girls—well, if I didn't know better I'd say the Board had screened you for the front row of the chorus instead of for a top-bracket brain-gang. ”

“ When visibility was restored another wave of ships came forward to repeat the performance, but there was nothing left to fight. Every surviving skeleton had blinked out of normal space.
The remaining ships made no effort to pursue the skeletons, nor did they re-form as a fleet. Each ship went off by itself. ”

“ Frank says it's from bombardment of a layer of something, and Frank admits that the whole thing's impossible.”
“When Frank makes up his mind what ‘something’ is, I'll take it as a datum.”
“Third thing: there's only one city on this continent, and it's protected by a screen that nobody ever heard of.”
Hilton pondered, then turned to the captain. “Will you please run a search-pattern, sir? Fine-toothing only the hot spots?”
The planet was approximately the same size as Terra; its atmosphere, except for its intense radiation, was similar to Terra's. There were two continents ”