oon.

In the morning they opened up the ship, and let down the landing ramps.
It was a very old world that they set foot upon. Whatever mountains or
hills it had ever had, had long ago been leveled by erosion, so that now
there was only a vaguely undulating plain studded with smooth and
rounded boulders. The soil underfoot was packed and barren, and there
was no vegetation for as far as they could see.

But the climate seemed mild and pleasant, the air warm and dry, with a
soft breeze blowing. It was probable that the breeze would be always
with them. There were no mountains to interfere with its passage, or
alter its gentle play.

Off to one side, a little stream ran crystal clear over rocks and
gravel. Dr. Thorne got a sample bottle from the ship, and went over to
it. He touched his fingers to the water, and then touched them to his
lips. Then he filled the sample bottle from the stream, and came back
with it.

"It seems all right," he said. "I'll run an analysis of it, and let you
know as soon as I can."

He took the bottle with him into the ship.

* * * * *

Beeson stood kicking at the ground with the toe of his boot. His head
was lowered.

"What do you think of it?" Renner asked.

Beeson shrugged. He knelt down and felt of the earth with his hands.
Then he got out a heavy-bladed knife and hacked at it until he had pried
out a few hard pieces. He stood up again with these in his hands. He
tried to crumble them, but they would not crumble. They would only break
into bits like sun-dried brick.

"It's hard to tell," he said. "There seems to be absolutely no organic
material here. I would say that nothing has grown here for a long, long
time. Why, I don't know. The lab will tell us something."

Renner nodded.

For the rest of the day they went their separate ways; Renner to his
cabin to make the entries that were needed when a flight was ended, even
though that ending was not intentional; Beeson to prowling along the
edge of the stream and pecking at the soil with a geologist's pick; and
Farrow to his narrow little world of engines where he worked at getting
ready the traction machines and other equipment that would be needed.

David set out on a tour of exploration toward the furthermost nests of
boulders. It was there that he found the first signs of vegetation. In
and around some of the larger groups of rocks, he found mosses and
lichens growing. He collected specimens