ew about the tension of
nostalgia. But we understood, too, the mental attitudes that could
lessen the strain. Crossing space to another world under the
tremendous power of atomic fusion, and under the precise guidance of
mathematics and piloting devices, reduces the process almost to a
formula. If things go right, you get where you're going; if not, there
isn't much you can do. Anyway, we had the feeling that the technical
side of interplanetary travel was the simplest part.

There is a marking near the Martian equator shaped like the funnel of
a gigantic tornado. It is the red planet's most conspicuous feature
and it includes probably the least arid territory of a cold, arid
world. Syrtis Major, it is called. Astronomers had always supposed it
to be an ancient sea-bottom. That was where our piloting devices were
set to take us.

Over it, our retarding fore-jets blazed for the last time. Our
retractable wings slid from their sockets and took hold of the thin
atmosphere with a thump and a soft rustle. On great rubber-tired
wheels, our ship--horizontal now, like a plane--landed in a broad
valley that must have been cleared of boulders by Martian engineers
countless ages before.

Our craft stopped rumbling. We peered from the windows of our cabin,
saw the deep blue of the sky and the smaller but brilliant Sun. We saw
little dusty whirlwinds, carven monoliths that were weathering away,
strange blue-green vegetation, some of which we could recognize. To
the east, a metal tower glinted. And a mile beyond it there was a
tremendous flat structure. An expanse of glassy roof shone. What might
have been a highway curved like a white ribbon into the distance.

The scene was quiet, beautiful and sad. You could feel that here maybe
a hundred civilizations had risen, and had sunk back into the dust.
Mars was no older than the Earth; but it was smaller, had cooled
faster and must have borne life sooner. Perhaps some of those earlier
cultures had achieved space travel. But, if so, it had been forgotten
until recent years. Very soon now its result would be tested. The
meeting of alien entity with alien entity was at hand.

I looked at Etl, still in his air-conditioned cage. His stalked eyes
had a glow and they swayed nervously. Here was the home-planet that he
had never seen. Was he eager or frightened, or both?

His education and experience were Earthly. He knew no more of Mars
than we did. Yet, now that he was here and probably