to help
them fight the winter. All that remained now was tarring the fields, and
then buckling down beneath the wind shields before the first winter
storms struck.

Pete was trying to get the nozzle of the tar sprayer cleaned out when
Mario's jeep came roaring down the rutted road from the village in a
cloud of dust. In the back seat a couple of Dusties were bouncing up and
down like happy five-year-olds. The brakes squealed and Mario bellowed
at him from the road. "Pete! The ship's in! Better get hopping!"

Pete nodded and started to close up the sprayer. One of the Dusties
tumbled out of the jeep and scampered across the field to give him a
hand. It was an inexpert hand to say the least, but the Dusties seemed
so proud of the little they were able to learn about mechanized farming
that nobody had the heart to shoo them away. Pete watched the fuzzy
brown creature get its paws thoroughly gummed up with tar before he
pulled him loose and sent him back to the jeep with a whack on the
backside. He finished the job himself, grabbed his coat from the back of
the sprayer, and pulled himself into the front seat of the jeep.

Mario started the little car back down the road. The young colonist's
face was coated with dust, emphasizing the lines of worry around his
eyes. "I don't like it, Pete. There isn't any ship due this year."

"When did it land?"

"About twenty minutes ago. Won't be cool for a while yet."

Pete laughed. "Maybe Old Schooner is just getting lonesome to swap tall
stories with us. Maybe he's even bringing us a locker of T-bones. Who
knows?"

"Maybe," said Mario without conviction.

Pete looked at him, and shrugged. "Why complain if they're early? Maybe
they've found some new way to keep our fields from blowing away on us
every winter." He stared across at the heavy windbreaks between the
fields--long, ragged structures built in hope of outwitting the vicious
winds that howled across the land during the long winter. Pete picked
bits of tar from his beard, and wiped the dirt from his forehead with
the back of his hand. "This tarring is mean," he said wearily. "Glad to
take a break."

"Maybe Cap Schooner will know something about the rumors we've been
hearing," Mario said gloomily.

Pete looked at him sharply. "About Earth?"

Mario nodded. "Schooner's a pretty good guy, I guess. I mean, he'd tell
us if anything was _really_ wrong back home, wouldn't he?"

Pete nodded, and snapped his fingers. One of t