shut away from the sky, Lancaster felt a sense of
unendurable loss.

It faded, and he grew aware of others watching him. There were half a
dozen people, a motley group dressed in any shabby garment they happened
to fancy, with no sign of the semi-military discipline of a Project
crew. A Martian hovered in the background, and Lancaster didn't notice
him at first. Berg introduced the humans casually. There was a stocky
gray-haired man named Friedrichs, a lanky space-tanned young chap called
Isaacson, a middle-aged woman and her husband by the name of Dufrere, a
quiet Oriental who answered to Hwang, and a red-haired woman presented
as Karen Marek. These, Berg explained, were the technicians who would be
helping Lancaster. This end of the space station was devoted to the labs
and factories; for security reasons, Lancaster couldn't be permitted to
go elsewhere, but it was hoped he would be comfortable here.

"Ummm--pardon me, aren't you a rather mixed group?" asked the physicist.

"Yes, very," said Berg cheerfully. "The Dufreres are French, Hwang is
Chinese, and Karen here is Norwegian though her husband was Czech. Not
to mention.... There you are, I didn't see you before! Dr. Lancaster,
I'd like you to meet Rakkan of Thyle, Mars, a very accomplished labman."

* * * * *

Lancaster gulped, shifting his feet and looking awkwardly at the small
gray-feathered body and the beaked owl-face. Rakkan bowed politely,
sparing Lancaster the decision of whether or not to shake the clawlike
hand. He assumed Rakkan was somebody's slave--but since when did slaves
act as social equals?

"But you said this project was top secret!" he blurted.

"Oh, it is," smiled Karen Marek. She had a husky, pleasant voice, and
while she was a little too thin to be really good-looking, she was cast
in a fine mold and her eyes were large and gray and lovely. "I assure
you, non-Americans are perfectly capable of preserving a secret. More so
than most Americans, really--we don't have ties on Earth. No one to blab
to."

"It's not well known today, but the original Manhattan Project that
constructed the first atomic bombs had quite an international
character," said Berg. "It even included German, Italian, and Hungarian
elements though the United States was at war with those countries."

"Come along and we'll get you settled in your quarters," invited
Isaacson.

Lancaster followed him down the long hallways, rather dazed