eart of the city."

He dropped his glasses to swing on their cord, his eyes glistening as
he spoke directly to Raf.

"Can you set us down on that?"

The pilot measured the curving roof of the structure. A crazy fool
might try to make a landing there. But he was no crazy fool. "Not on
that roof!" he spoke with decision.

To his relief the captain confirmed his verdict with a slow nod.
"Better find out more first." Hobart could be cautious when he wanted
to. "Are they still broadcasting, Soriki?"

The com-tech had stripped the earphones from his head and was rubbing
one ear. "Are they!" he exploded. "I'd think you could hear them clear
over there, sir!"

And they could. The gabble-gabble which bore no resemblance to any
language Terra knew boiled out of the phones.

"Someone's excited," Lablet commented in his usual mild tone.

"Maybe they've discovered us." Hobart's hand went to the weapon at his
belt. "We must make peaceful contact--if we can."

Lablet took off his helmet and ran his fingers through the scrappy
ginger-and-gray fringe receding from his forehead. "Yes--contact will
be necessary--" he said thoughtfully.

Well, he was supposed to be their expert on that. Raf watched the
older man with something akin to amusement. The pilot had a suspicion
that none of the other three, Lablet included, was in any great hurry
to push through contact with unknown aliens. It was a case of dancing
along on shore before having to plunge into the chill of autumn sea
waves. Terrans had explored their own solar system, and they had
speculated learnedly for generations on the problem of intelligent
alien life. There had been all kinds of reports by experts and
would-be experts. But the stark fact remained that heretofore mankind
as born on the third planet of Sol had _not_ encountered intelligent
alien life. And just how far did speculations, reports, and arguments
go when one was faced with the problem to be solved practically--and
speedily?

Raf's own solution would have been to proceed with caution and yet
more caution. Under his technical training he had far more imagination
than any of his officers had ever realized. And now he was certain
that the best course of action was swift retreat until they knew more
about what was to be faced.

But in the end the decision was taken out of their hands. A muffled
exclamation from Lablet brought them all around to see that distant
curving roof crack wide open. From the shad