ide, level lip around it, which Casker
scorched as he landed the ship.

* * * * *

From the air, the building had merely seemed big. On the ground, it
was enormous. Hellman and Casker walked up to it slowly. Hellman had
his burner ready, but there was no sign of life.

"This planet must be abandoned," Hellman said almost in a whisper.

"Anyone in his right mind would abandon this place," Casker said.
"There're enough good planets around, without anyone trying to live on
a needle point."

They reached the door. Hellman tried to open it and found it locked.
He looked back at the spectacular display of mountains.

"You know," he said, "when this planet was still in a molten state, it
must have been affected by several gigantic moons that are now broken
up. The strains, external and internal, wrenched it into its present
spined appearance and--"

"Come off it," Casker said ungraciously. "You were a librarian before
you decided to get rich on uranium."

Hellman shrugged his shoulders and burned a hole in the doorlock. They
waited.

The only sound on the mountain top was the growling of their stomachs.

They entered.

The tremendous wedge-shaped room was evidently a warehouse of sorts.
Goods were piled to the ceiling, scattered over the floor, stacked
haphazardly against the walls. There were boxes and containers of all
sizes and shapes, some big enough to hold an elephant, others the size
of thimbles.

Near the door was a dusty pile of books. Immediately, Hellman bent
down to examine them.

"Must be food somewhere in here," Casker said, his face lighting up
for the first time in a week. He started to open the nearest box.

[Illustration]

"This is interesting," Hellman said, discarding all the books except
one.

"Let's eat first," Casker said, ripping the top off the box. Inside
was a brownish dust. Casker looked at it, sniffed, and made a face.

"Very interesting indeed," Hellman said, leafing through the book.

Casker opened a small can, which contained a glittering green slime.
He closed it and opened another. It contained a dull orange slime.

"Hmm," Hellman said, still reading.

"Hellman! Will you kindly drop that book and help me find some food?"

"Food?" Hellman repeated, looking up. "What makes you think there's
anything to eat here? For all you know, this could be a paint
factory."

"It's a warehouse!" Casker shouted.

He opened a kidney-shaped can and li