smooth beginning. He sighed and walked over to
the hospital.

Dr. Thorndyke, a small, swarthy man with the penetrating gaze of his
profession, greeted him with a shrug and a puzzled frown.

Gallifa framed the question with his eyes.

"I don't know," the doctor said slowly. "Frankly, I've never seen
anything like this before. Your man seems to have lost his mind
completely, yet his reactions are at least pseudo-normal. He has an
intense homicidal mania, however. He regained consciousness unexpectedly
and almost brained two of my medics with a headboard before we could
give him a hypo. I don't know whether he'll improve or not. But I've
classified him unfit for further survey duty."

Gallifa shook his head in disbelief. The doctor had told him exactly
nothing. He had intelligently diagnosed Bradshaw's condition, but he
apparently hadn't the slightest idea what had caused it. It was damned
strange. Bradshaw's psych check certainly hadn't hinted at any
instability. The initial spot check notwithstanding, maybe there _was_
something disturbingly wrong with this planet. If such were the case,
his team would have to uncover it. The problem would belong to Gallifa.

II

The planet--as yet unnamed--had been surveyed by the spotting cruiser
and pronounced suitable for colonization to nine-point-oh on a scale of
ten. Of course, the nine-point figure was really only a pro tem rating.
The cruiser hadn't been able to conduct a personal survey. That more
difficult undertaking would fall to the lot of the pre-col crew.

By the time the balance of the colonists arrived, in forty-five days,
the survey party would have to have the initial focal point ready for
occupancy, and be in a position to supply all the data the colony would
need for survival.

It was the biological team's specific job not only to classify the flora
and fauna of the planet, but to determine the adaptability of the
colonists to all existing conditions. Bradshaw might have encountered
something which would have helped tremendously with the latter category.
But it was obvious he wouldn't be able to tell anyone about it.

However, an isolated tragic incident which held no bearing on the
success or failure of the colony could not be allowed to interrupt the
survey. Gallifa impatiently dismissed the gentle nagging at the back of
his mind and returned to the compound. By 1300, Solar Time, the camp was
considered to be on a standard operating basis.

Gal