surface and, with only a
glance at the seismological gauge to judge surface resistance, dropped
to the ground.

It was day, but in the thin atmosphere contrasts were sharp between
light and shadow. They walked from midnight to noon, noon to midnight,
and came to the beast sprawled on its side.

Ekstrohm nudged it with a boot. "Hey, this is pretty close to a
wart-hog."

"Uh-huh," Ryan admitted. "One of the best matches I've ever found. Well,
it has to happen. Statistical average and all. Still, it sometimes gives
you a creepy feeling to find a rabbit or a snapping turtle on some
strange world. It makes you wonder if this exploration business isn't
all some big joke, and somebody has been _everywhere_ before you even
started."

* * * * *

The surveyor looked sidewise at the captain. The big man seldom gave out
with such thoughts. Ekstrohm cleared his throat. "What shall we do with
this one? Dissect it?"

Ryan nudged it with his toe, following Ekstrohm's example. "I don't
know, Stormy. It sure as hell doesn't look like any dominant intelligent
species to me. No hands, for one thing. Of course, that's not definite
proof."

"No, it isn't," Ekstrohm said.

"I think we'd better let it lay until we get a clearer picture of the
ecological setup around here. In the meantime, we might be thinking on
the problem all these dead beasts represent. What killed them?"

"It looks like we did, when we made blastdown."

"But _what_ about our landing was lethal to the creatures?"

"Radiation?" Ekstrohm suggested. "The planet is very low in radiation
from mineral deposits, and the atmosphere seems to shield out most of
the solar output. Any little dose of radiation might knock off these
critters."

"I don't know about that. Maybe it would work the other way. Maybe
because they have had virtually no radioactive exposure and don't have
any R's stored up, they could take a _lot_ without harm."

"Then maybe it was the shockwave we set up. Or maybe it's sheer
xenophobia. They curl up and die at the sight of something strange and
alien--like a spaceship."

"Maybe," the captain admitted. "At this stage of the game anything could
be possible. But there's one possibility I particularly don't like."

"And that is?"

"Suppose it was _not_ us that killed these aliens. Suppose it is
something right on the planet, native to it. I just hope it doesn't work
on Earthmen too. These critters went real sudde