CHAPTER III
The Four Visitors
"Somebody coming!" the lookout called.
Jed Hargraves dropped the shovel. Behind him the hiss of an electriccutting torch and the whang of a heavy hammer went into sudden silence.Back there, a hundreds yards away, they had already begun work on theship, attempting to repair the hole gouged in the stout magna steel ofthe hull. They had heard the call of the lookout and were dropping toolsto pick up weapons. Jed's hand slid down to his belt to the compactvibration pistol holstered there. He pulled the gun, held it ready inhis hand. Ron Val and Nielson did the same.
Vega, slanting downward, was near the western horizon. The grove was amass of shadows. Through the shadows something was coming.
"They're human!" Ron Val gasped.
Hargraves said nothing. His fingers tightened around the butt of thepistol as he waited. He saw them clearly now. There were four of them.They looked like--old men. Four tribal gray-beards out for a stroll inthe cool of the late afternoon. Each carried a staff. They were walkingtoward the ship. Then they saw the little group that stood apart andturned toward them.
"The teletron. Will you go get it, please, Ron Val?"
Nodding, the astro-navigator ran back to the ship. The teletron was anew gadget, invented just before the expedition left earth. Far fromperfection as yet, it was intended to aid in establishing telepathiccommunication between persons who had no common language. Sometimes itworked, a little. More often it didn't. But it might be useful here. RonVal was panting when he returned with it.
"Are you going to talk to them, Jed?"
"I'm going to try."
The four figures approached. Hargraves smiled. That was to show his goodintentions. A smile ought to be common language everywhere.
The four strangers did not return his smile. They just stopped andlooked at him with no trace of emotion on their faces.
What strange thing was this? Who were these people andwhat was their power?]
They looked human. They weren't, of course. Parallel evolution accountedfor the resemblance, like causes producing like results.
Nielson was watching them like a hawk. Without making an aggressivemove, the way he held his gun showed he was ready to go into action at amoment's notice. Behind them, the ship was silent, its crew alert.Hargraves bent to manipulate the complicated tuning of the teletron.
"I am Thulon," a voice whispered in his brain. "No need for that."
Jed Hargraves' leaped to his feet. He caught startled glances from RonVal and Nielson and knew they had heard and understood too. Understood,rather. There had been nothing for the ears to hear.
"Thulon! No need for--_I understood you without_--"
Thulon smiled. He was taller than the average human, and very slender."We are natural telepaths. So there is no need to use your instrument."
"Uh? Natural telepaths! Well, I'm damned!"
"Damned? I cannot quite grasp the meaning of the word. Your mind isradiating on an emotional level. Do you wish to indicate surprise? Icannot grasp your thinking."
Hargraves choked, fought for control of his mind. For a minute it hadrun away with him. He brought it to heel.
"What are you doing here?" Thulon asked.
* * * * *
Hargraves blinked at the directness of the question. They certainlywasted no time getting down to business. "We--" He caught himself. Notelling how much they could take directly from his mind!
"We came from--far away." He tried to force his thoughts into narrowchannels. "We--"
"There is no need to be afraid." Thulon smiled gently. Or was therewiliness in that smile? Was this stranger attempting to lure him into afeeling of false security?
"I meant, what are you doing _here_?" Thulon continued. His eyes wentdown to the ground.
There was only one shovel on the ground. One shovel was all there hadbeen in the ship. Thulon's glance went to it, went on.
There were three mounds. The soft mould had dug easily. It had all beenpatted back into place. On the middle mound Ron Val had finished placinga small cross that he had hastily improvised from the ship's stores.Scratched in the metal was a name: Hal Sarkoff.
"We had an outbreak of buboes," Hargraves said. "That's a disease. Threeof our companions died and we landed here to bury them. We had justfinished doing this when you arrived."
"Died! Three of you died? And you hid them under these mounds?"
"Yes. Of course. There was nothing else we could--"
"You are going to leave them here in the ground!"
"Certainly." Hargraves was wondering if this method of disposing of thedead violated some tribal taboo of this people. Different races disposedof their dead in different ways. He did not know the customs of theinhabitants of this world. "If we have offended against your customs, weare sorry."
"No. There was no offense." Thulon blanketed his thoughts. Hargravescould almost feel the blanket slip into place.
"You came in that ship?" Thulon pointed toward the vessel.
"Yes." It was impossible to conceal this fact.
"Ah." Thulon hesitated, seemed to grope through his mind for the exactshade of expression he wished to convey. Hargraves was aware that thestranger's eyes probed through him, measured him. "It would interest usto examine the vessel. Would you permit this?"
"Certainly." Hargraves knew that Red Nielson jerked startled eyes towardhim.
"Jed!" Nielson spoke in protest.
"Shut up!" Hargraves snapped. His body and his mind was a mass oftightly wound springs but his face was calm and his voice was suave. Heturned to Thulon. "I will be glad to take you through our ship. However,I do not recommend it."
"No?"
"It might be dangerous, for you and your companions. We have had threecases of buboes, resulting in three deaths. All of us have had shots ofimmunizing serum and we hope we will have no more cases. However, thegerms are unquestionably present in the atmosphere of the ship. Sinceyou probably have no immunity to the disease, to breathe the tainted airwould almost certainly result in an attack. This disease is fatal innine cases out of ten. I therefore suggest you do not enter the ship. Infact," Hargraves concluded, "I was about to say that it might not bewise for you and your companions even to come near us, because of thepossibility that you might contract the disease."
* * * * *
Had he gotten the story over it? Was it convincing? Out of the corner ofhis eyes he saw Ron Val glance at him. When he had said their companionshad died of buboes, Ron Val had looked as if he thought he was out ofhis mind. Now Ron Val understood. "Good going, Jed," his glance seemedto say.
"Hargraves--" This was Nielson speaking. His face was black.
"I suggest," said Jed casually, "that you let me handle this."
Nielson gulped. "Yes. Yes, sir," he said.
Thulon's companions had been paying attention to the conversation. Butall the time they were stealing glances at the ship. With half theirminds, they seemed to be listening to what was being said. But the otherhalf of their minds was interested in that silent ship hidden under thetrees. Were they merely curious, such as any savage might be? Or wasthis group making a reconnaissance? Hargraves did not know. It did notlook like a reconnaissance in force.
"Do you really think we might contract this disease?" Thulon asked.
Hargraves shrugged. "I'm not certain. You might not. It would all dependon the way your bodies reacted to the organism causing the disease."
"Under such circumstances, you show little consideration for our welfareby bringing a plague ship to land here."
"We didn't know you existed. I assure you, however, that if you willremain away from the ship until we have an opportunity to disinfect itthoroughly, any danger to your people will be very slight. On the otherhand, if you wish to look our vessel over, to assure yourselves that weare not a menace to you--which we are not--I shall be glad to take youthrough the ship."
Was he drawing i
t too fine? He spoke clearly and forcefully. The words,of course, would carry no meaning. But the thought that went along withthem would convey what he wanted to say.
"Ah." The thought came from Thulon. "Perhaps--" Again the blanket cameover his mind and Hargraves had the impression Thulon was conferringwith his companions.
The silent conference ended.
"Perhaps," Thulon said. "It would be better if we returned to visit youtomorrow, or the day after tomorrow."
He bowed. Without another word he and his silent companions turned andbegan to walk slowly away. Not until he saw the little group slippingaway into the dusk did Jed realize he had been holding his breath.
"Hargraves!" Nielson's voice was harsh. "Are you going to let them getaway? You fool! That sphere came from this world. Have you forgotten?"
"I have forgotten nothing, I hope."
"But you offered to take them through the ship! They would have seen howbadly damaged she is."
"Of course I offered to take them through the ship, then made itimpossible for them to accept. We can't stick up 'No Trespassing' signshere. This is their world. We don't know a damned thing about it, orabout them. We can't run and we don't want to fight, if we can help it.Furthermore, Nielson, I want you to learn to control your tongue.Remember that in the future, will you?"
For a second, Nielson glared at him. "Yes, sir."
"All right. Go on back to the ship."
* * * * *
Nielson went clumping back toward the vessel. Hargraves turned to RonVal.
"What do you make of it?"
"I don't know, Jed. There is something about it that I don't like alittle bit. They can read minds. Maybe that is what I don't like becauseI don't know how to react to it. Jed, it may be that we are in greatdanger here."
"There is little doubt about _that_," Hargraves answered. "Tonight wewill stand watches. Tomorrow we will make a reconnaissance of our own."
Dusk came over the grove. Vega hesitated on the horizon as though tryingto make up its mind, then abruptly took the plunge and dived from sightbeyond the rim of the world. Night came abruptly, hiding the ship andits occupants. In the sky overhead, stars twinkled like the eyes ofwatchful wolves.