“The best word to describe it is jungle,” said Doctor Eileen’s voice in my ear. A disappointed voice, I thought. What she was seeing did not match her ideas of Godspeed Base. “It’s a consequence of the low gravity, which does almost nothing to constrain upward growth. As you will observe, moving around is not going to be easy. Exploring may take us far longer than we expected. We are going to stay together and concentrate our firepower until we know that nothing dangerous is here. We are not sure yet that there is animal life, but we think there must be. Dr. Swift heard something moving off through that patch of thorns you can see in front of us.”
I, of course, could not see that. What I saw was the curve of the little world itself, as our cargo beetle floated around it. We had negotiated the upper shield through a lock that worked itself automatically at our approach. Whatever it was that kept Paddy’s Fortune operating and with an atmosphere right for humans was still doing fine. Soon we were within a hundred feet of the actual surface.
But I couldn’t see that surface at all. What I saw was growing plants, apparently covering every square inch. It was only when we came lower that I noticed little pools of water, washbasin-sized, with lines of flattened growth running between them like animal trails. But there was no sign of the animals themselves.
The worldlet was turning on its axis and, as I watched, parts of it slipped away into shade for a brief night. The whole daylight period could be no more than an hour or two. I had a sudden vision of an accelerated world, with animals catching brief half-hour naps between nightfall and a new dawn. Then I realized that part of the world, what I imagined as its “north pole,” was going to remain in shadow for a long time. Maveen was to the south, and would not illuminate much of the north at this time of year. Did animals—if there were animals—migrate south, to enjoy a season of perpetual sun? Or head north, to hibernate? It would not be a difficult journey, because the whole distance from north pole to south pole was no more than an hour’s walk.
Assuming that you could walk, through such unbroken vegetation. Even from a hundred feet or less, I could not estimate the height of the plants. I had to take Doctor Eileen’s word that it was difficult going.
I was not the only one peering down with huge curiosity. The four crew members were just as interested. Sean Wilgus was actually licking his lips in sheer excitement and anticipation, something I had never seen anyone do before outside of a theater show. Only Danny Shaker stayed at the controls, bringing us in for a gentle landing that nonetheless crushed a broad circle of tall succulent plants with spiky purple flowers.
He had no choice. Paddy’s Fortune, at least to my first inspection, was all vegetation. Doctor Eileen had been forced to flatten a patch, too, when they landed. No wonder she was disappointed. An industrial world, as she had pointed out to me on the journey to the Maze, should show signs of that industry even from a distance. The transparent shield around Paddy’s Fortune supported that idea. But now—this.
We opened the port of the beetle, and squeezed through one by one to stand on soft black soil. I at once found myself at a disadvantage. The surface was level enough, but the plants were head-high—my head. Shaker and the other crew members could see over the tops of the plants. My view was limited to green leaves and purple flowers.
And something else. I reached out and picked a tiny object from the underside of one of the leaves. I held it out to show it to Pat O’Rourke.
“Look. Some sort of bug. There is animal life.”
He glanced at it without the slightest interest. “Yeah. We know that. The other party showed us bugs.”
I had heard only a small fraction of the recordings sent back by Doctor Eileen. I put the little green multilegged creature on a leaf, and turned back to explain the reason for my ignorance to Patrick O’Rourke.
He had vanished.
I could see the way that he had gone, from a few broken plants among the whole mass of springy vegetation. I took three steps in that direction, and suddenly I was right behind him again. It proved how easy it was to get lost—at least for me.
The others probably did not have that problem. Patrick O’Rourke seemed to know where he was going, and other sounds were coming from each side of me. Sean Wilgus was cursing at something black and sticky that he had trodden in, while Robert Doonan, easily the most broken-winded of the crew, was wheezing and grunting in front of him.
“How much farther, dammit?” he complained. “I thought you said we—aha, about time.”
Within a few more steps I understood that mysterious comment. I emerged abruptly from green and purple jungle, to a place where the plants grew less than knee high. Danny Shaker and Robert Doonan were already waiting. I hardly gave them one glance, because standing there also, to my huge relief, was Doctor Eileen.
I don’t think I was ever so pleased to see anyone in my whole life. It must have shown, because as I ran to her side she shot me a funny look and said, “What’s the good news?”
I don’t think she cared whether I answered or not. I was sure pleased to be with her, but from the look of it she wasn’t all that happy to see me. She turned to Danny Shaker without waiting for my reply.
“What’s this, Captain? You never told me that you were bringing Jay with you. I’m not sure this place is safe.”
“Safer for him than the Cuchulain, when I’m not there. I’ll vouch for that.” And, when she stared at him, “You know my crew, Doctor. They’re hardworking and they’re well-seasoned. But they’re a rough lot, and one thing no spacer will stand is a spy. I’m sorry to tell you that the crewmen are convinced that Jay has been spying on them. Crawling through the air supply system, snooping around, listening in on private conversations.”
“Nonsense! Wriggling along air pipes? I’m sure he did no such thing.” Doctor Eileen turned back to me. “Did you, Jay?”
“Well… I did—but it wasn’t like that at all. You see, I heard them talking about women—”
“And when did spacers ever talk about anything else?” Shaker glanced across at the four crew, who had slumped down on the soft earth half a dozen paces away. He stepped closer to Eileen Xavier and lowered his voice. “I’m going to be honest with you, Doctor, even though you’ll maybe think the less of me for it. Privacy in space is hard to come by, and spying on your shipmates is one of the very worst things you can do.”
“But I wasn’t—”
“Shush, Jay.” Doctor Eileen waved her hand, but she didn’t look at me.
“They thought you were spying,” Danny Shaker said, “and that’s what matters. The way the men were talking after they found Jay in the air ducts, that was real ugly.”
“But you were the one—”
“Jay!”
It was useless, she would believe him more than she would me.
“Some were even suggesting space-walking him.” Shaker shook his head ruefully. “I had trouble controlling them—as Jay himself can tell you. And I certainly wasn’t sure enough of myself to leave him behind when I came down here. I brought him along for his own safety.”