the wheel."

The eight of them clustered about the craft's portholes, taking in the
primitive city that surrounded them. The square had emptied at their
approach, and now the several thousand citizens that had filled it were
peering fearfully from street entrances and alleyways.

Cogswell, a fiery little technician, said, "Look at them! It'll take
hours before they drum up enough courage to come any closer. You were
right, doctor. If we left the boat now, we'd make fools of ourselves
trying to coax them near enough to talk."

Watson said to Joe Chessman "What do you mean, no Emperor Montezuma?"

Chessman said absently, as he watched, "When the Spanish got to Mexico
they didn't understand what they saw, being musclemen rather than
scholars. And before competent witnesses came on the scene, Aztec
society was destroyed. The conquistadors, who did attempt to describe
Tenochtitlan, misinterpreted it. They were from a feudalistic world and
tried to portray the Aztecs in such terms. For instance, the large
Indian community houses they thought were palaces. Actually, Montezuma
was a democratically elected war chief of a confederation of three
tribes which militarily dominated most of the Mexican valley. There was
no empire because Indian society, being based on the clan, had no method
of assimilating newcomers. The Aztec armies could loot and they could
capture prisoners for their sacrifices, but they had no system of
bringing their conquered enemies into the nation. They hadn't reached
that far in the evolution of society. The Incas could have taught them a
few lessons."

Plekhanov nodded. "Besides, the Spanish were fabulous liars. In Cortez's
attempt to impress Spain's king, he built himself up far beyond reality.
To read his reports you'd think the pueblo of Mexico had a population
pushing a million. Actually, if it had thirty thousand it was doing
well. Without a field agriculture and with their primitive transport,
they must have been hard put to feed even that large a town."

A tall, militarily erect native strode from one of the streets that
debouched into the plaza and approached to within twenty feet of the
space boat. He stared at it for at least ten full minutes then spun on
his heel and strode off again in the direction of one of the stolidly
built stone buildings that lined the square on each side except that
which the pyramid dominated.

Cogswell chirped, "Now that he's broken the ice, in a couple of hours