une for hundreds of
years at a stretch and brought it back only rarely. Pluto lost its moon.
And that moon was the spiritual home of the Sun-tappers' religion."

Burl glanced across the landscape. There were some funny things growing
nearby. They looked a little like thin, glassy trees with big, blue
coconuts on top.

"What happened to you and Haines after we got separated?" he asked,
still talking through his helmet phone.

"I don't know what happened to Haines," said Russ. "I hope he got away.
But they trapped me. I was taken aboard one of their dumbbell ships, and
brought here. The trip took days. I guess you were unconscious for all
that time. If it's any comfort to you, the Pluto building was destroyed.
Our atomic bomb went off. I saw the flare from a window in the ship. I
think this moon is the last stronghold of the Sun-tappers, and I think
it is our final objective."

The strange crystalline vegetation seemed to be moving closer to Burl.
He watched it carefully. It _was_ moving! There were living beings out
there!

They glided oddly over the ground, and he saw that their bases were a
mass of crystalline fringes, moving feelers which crawled over the
surface bearing the upper structures with them. They had thin, trunklike
bodies with two long, pencil-like branches that were used as arms. And
the coconut objects were heads!

They circled the dome now, and Burl could see that each round blue knob
had a central black spot that apparently served as an eye. There was no
sign of nostrils or mouth. Burl stared at the creatures in wonder.

The beings were clearly gesturing to him, trying to signal with their
odd arms. He waved back, wondering how he could establish communication.
As he did so, he described the creatures to Russ.

Russ's voice was excited. "Say! I think I've figured out what sort of
place I'm in. This is a museum of galactic life! Each of these glass
cases contains a specimen of the highest form of life of its particular
world. In one of the cases, opposite me, there's one of the Martian
creatures--a big, antlike fellow. He's standing there, looking perfectly
alive, but absolutely motionless. Next to him is something else that
looks like an intelligent form. It's sort of a man, covered with short
red hair. Around its waist it's got a belt, and there are pouches on it,
and something like a short sword. It must be a humanoid type from some
world out among the stars. Some of the others look like int