escapedextinction.
* * * * *
On the second day, Bruckner sent Sweets and Teller, the head engineer,to the chief with a present and samples of rare ores. Sweets' duties, onthe trip out, had included the learning of the native language.
The sun was hot and Sweets wore only his shoes, trousers and a T shirt.It seemed absurd that a sun that appeared no larger than an egg shouldbe so hot. But he knew it generated all that heat because it was a bluesun and not one of the ordinary yellow-white type, as it appeared. Thedeceptive appearance was caused by the heavy atmosphere that held outthe ultraviolet and the heat and light came in on the yellow band. Lastnight, the darkness had had a dim violet haze.
The interview with Chief Faffin went quite smoothly. He received theEarthmen with great cordiality and Sweets was certain that he detectedin the chieftain's manner more than mere courtesy. He seemed to have agenuine liking for them. He accepted gravely the gyroscope top whichBruckner had sent and agreed, without argument or reservations, to sendhis men in search of the ores that matched the samples Sweets showedhim.
He would be happy to assist his friends, the _Lacigule_, the chief said._Lacigule_ was the natives' name for the Earthmen, used in both thesingular and the plural.
The same afternoon, a dozen natives brought samples of ores to the ship.At Bruckner's orders, Sweets gave each native a comb from the ship'ssupply of trading goods.
During the evening, Teller and his men set up a portable massspectograph separator at the mine site and, three days later, they hadthe hold of the ship two-thirds full.
During all this time, the crew members had been restricted to thevicinity of the spaceship and by the third day were showing signs ofunrest. They sent Sweets to talk with Bruckner and the captain.
"We'll be leaving here in a few days," Sweets told them. "It's been along trip out and it'll be another long trip back. The men feel they'reentitled to some fun before they go."
"That seems like a reasonable request," the captain said. "What do youthink, Mr. Bruckner?"
"It would be risky to let them mingle too freely with the natives,"Bruckner advised. "We aren't familiar enough with the local customs. Onewrong move might spoil all the good will I've been able to build up sofar."
"Unless you let them have a little fun, you're going to be awfullyunpopular," Sweets said. Without knowing it, he was something of apsychologist himself.
"Hmmm." Bruckner was thoughtful. "I'm for the men," he said finally."One hundred per cent. Let's say we wait until tomorrow evening, though.We'll have the hold just about filled by that time. Then it won't mattertoo much if the natives change their minds about letting us take theores. How does that sound to you?"
"Fair enough," Sweets agreed.
* * * * *
The next evening, a full-fledged party was held. Permission had beenobtained from Chief Faffin for the crew to visit the village and thetribesmen were waiting for them when they arrived.
Sweets stayed close to Majesky. For the past couple days, the bigcrewman had been drinking--not heavily, but steadily. The irritation ofbeing restricted to the ship and vicinity, added to the long trip outfrom Earth, had gradually built up in him an ugly resentment.
Now as the crew members sat in a circle watching the dancing of ahalf-dozen native men, Sweets noted that Majesky was drunk. He sat withhis arms wrapped around his legs, his head resting on his knees, andglared at the dancers. Outside the circle, a pile of brush burned withmuch crackling of wood-pitch.
After the dance was over, the natives sat solemnly watching theEarthmen. It was soon apparent that they expected their visitors tofurnish the next portion of the entertainment program.
Evidently Bruckner had come prepared for this. He rose impressively fromhis throne--on which he had been carried the quarter-mile from theship--and said, "We'll have your song now, Billy."
Billy Watts, astrogator of the crew, pulled himself to his feet and, ina high boyish tenor, sang _I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen_.
Sweets felt his throat quicken as a wave of homesickness went throughhim like a chill. At the song's end, it needed the yip, yip, yip of thetribesmen's applause to bring him out of his memories of Earth.
The tribesmen continued their applause until Watts rose again. Sweetswondered if they had any music of their own. The men had danced earlierwithout accompaniment and they had made no sound themselves.
Billy Watts sang two more songs and it was the tribesmen's turn again.
Suddenly a native woman ran out from behind one of the round, mud-packedvillage huts and into the circle of spectators. She paused on tiptoe,crouched and sprang upward, twisting and screaming as she rose. Shelanded with her legs in driving motion and went through a racing,energetic series of gyrations. She was almost completely unclothed.
* * * * *
For a stunned moment, the men sat motionless in pleased surprise. ThenSweets caught a movement from the corner of his eye and shifted his headto look at Majesky. For the first time in many days, Majesky appearedhappy. He had straightened up and his eyes shone with a glow ofapproval. He raised his arms in a gesture of encouragement and yelled,"Swing it, baby!"
The dancer's stride broke and her head turned sharply in Majesky'sdirection. Then she ignored the interruption and went on with her dance.
But Majesky was not to be ignored. He climbed to his feet and stood withhis head hunched between his shoulders, watching her. Then he lurchedforward, caught the girl up in his arms and swung her around in astaggering circle.
It had happened too suddenly for any of the Earthmen to stop him, andnow they were unable to decide just what they should do. Most of themturned to Bruckner.
To Sweets, it seemed that Bruckner had gone pale, but it was difficultto be certain in the uneven light cast by the fire. His mouth openedtwice before he could speak. And when he did, Sweets almost laughed atthe staginess and absurdity of what he said.
"Unhand that woman!" Bruckner commanded.
Bruckner's voice was loud and it penetrated through the haze ofMajesky's drunken elation. He stopped his spinning and set the girl onher feet, but he kept his right arm around her waist and glared back atBruckner.
"Go to hell," he said.
The natives apparently had been as surprised as the crew, for they hadnot moved. Now, however, one of them rose and lunged at Majesky.
Majesky's face twisted into an expectant grin and he tossed the girlaside and stood with wide-spread legs, waiting. As the native dived inwith his head lowered, Majesky brought his right fist up in a powerfuluppercut and smashed it into the tribesman's mouth.
The native continued his dive and landed face down. Natives and Earthmenwere on their feet now and moving toward Majesky. Sweets reached himfirst.
The grin of pleasure was still on Majesky's face as he hit Sweets on theleft cheek and spun him half-around. He butted his head into the chestof the next man to reach him, but they pulled him down then and held himhelpless.
The natives had paused when they saw the Earthmen grab Majesky.
Now Bruckner made his voice heard above the noise. "Bring him overhere!" he yelled.
Two men pinned Majesky's arms while a third held one kicking leg. Theydragged him over to Bruckner.
"You damn, dumb fool!" Bruckner cursed fervently. He raised his voice."All of you," he ordered, "back to the ship!"
The natives made no attempt to stop them.
Sweets glanced back over his shoulder at Chief Faffin as they went. Hewas standing and intoning sadly, "_Lacigule, lacigule, lacigule_."
* * * * *
The following day, Bruckner called Sweets to his quarters.
"That was a rotten piece of business last night," Bruckner said. "ButI'm proud of the way you acted. You did some mighty quick thinkingthere."
Sweets grunted. He knew the flattery was leading to something.
"I've been giving the matter some deep
thought since," Brucknercontinued, "and I don't think it's too late yet to patch things up. ButI need a man with guts." He laughed. "How brave do you feel thismorning?"
Sweets shrugged and regarded the other levelly.
"You can speak their language," Bruckner said. "And I don't believethey're sure enough of themselves to risk bloodshed. How would you liketo bring another present to the chief? I'll see that you're--"
"I don't feel like being a hero this morning," Sweets interrupted. "Whydon't you go yourself?"
Bruckner's eyebrows raised. "My job is vital to the success of thisexpedition to risk my life unnecessarily. I'd go myself except--"
"Except that it's too dangerous," Sweets finished for him.
Bruckner straightened and his lips grew narrower. "That will be enoughof that. We'll find some way to get along without your help."
The party Bruckner organized to visit the native village pointedly didnot include Sweets.
Each man carried a rifle and sidearms. Bruckner walked this time--attheir head. But Sweets made a small bet with himself that Bruckner wouldstay close to the protection of his men. He was willing enough to sendanother man out alone, but when he had to go himself, he made sure thathe was well protected.
Bruckner and his men had been gone almost an hour when Sweets heard thesound of Big Stupe's hoarse squawking from outside the ship. Thereseemed to be anger in the tones. Before Sweets reached the open portalof the ship, he heard more excited squawks. They were similar to BigStupe's, but they weren't being made by him.
Outside, Sweets found Big Stupe facing three others of his breed,exchanging loud angry squawks. Soon they began to walk rapidly in theirpseudo-dignified spraddles, each in a small circle.
Abruptly they were locked together and it was soon apparent that thiswas no game. Big Stupe pulled with both flippers at the head of one ofhis visitors, while another systematically raked his long claws down thesides of Big Stupe's neck. Before Sweets could reach him, the neck wasstreaming with blood.
Sweets remembered how Big Stupe had always been afraid of loud noisesand he raised his voice in a shout. The other stupes turned their backs,but Big Stupe brought one flipper around and hit Sweets squarely betweenthe eyes.
* * * * *
As Sweets stood stunned, he felt Big Stupe's body crash against hisshoulders and this time, when he yelled, it was in alarm and fear.
Then he was free and his eyes swam back into focus. He saw Big Stupestanding with his back turned. The three visitors were shambling offawkwardly.
Sweets left Big Stupe and stumbled back to the ship.
Bruckner returned well pleased with his trip.
"I'd say we handled that exactly right," he said. "I don't know if theother expeditions contacted this particular tribe or not, but at leaststories must have reached them of the potency of the Earthmen's weapons.When we showed them that we preferred peace, but were ready to fight ifnecessary, that was the end of the affair. And the presents we had forFaffin, and for the native that Majesky hit, didn't hurt any. The onething to keep in mind is that we've got to make them respect us. Andthose lads have plenty of respect for _Lacigule_ right now."
It seemed that Bruckner was right. There was no further difficulty withthe tribesmen as the engineers completed their mining and separatingoperations and finished filling the hold of the ship.
* * * * *
Two days later, they were ready to leave.
"Can we take Big Stupe along with us when we go?" one of the crewmenasked Bruckner. Most of them were standing outside the ship, taking alast look around at Waterfields Planet. The ship had been madespace-ready and all preparations for departure had been completed.
"I see no reason why not," Bruckner answered. "He certainly helps keepour morale up. I wonder," he went on in an expansive mood, "if you menrealize why you get such a kick out of Big Stupe. You ought to readHobbs' essay on the basis of humor sometime.
"Hobbs does a fine job of showing that we enjoy humor because it catersto our need for self-approval. When a monkey falls out of a tree, allthe other monkeys laugh, because it makes them feel so clever and wisefor not having fallen out of their tree. Whenever Big Stupe pulls one ofhis outlandish stunts, we are all reminded of how much smarter we are.It makes us feel good and so we like Big Stupe. We like anybody oranything that makes us feel superior."
A few of the natives who had been watching the preparations fordeparture from a distance walked closer.
Bruckner turned and waved cheerfully to them. "Farewell, friends.Perhaps we'll see you again in a few years." He paused. "I've beenwondering," he said, pointing at Big Stupe, "what's your name for thisbird here?"
"_Lacigule_," the native answered.
They left Big Stupe behind.
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