"now you'lllisten or I'll beat your skulls in. I know what's behind all of this onthis planet."
"Yeah? What do you think it is, Stormy?" Ryan asked.
"First of all, I think there's a basic difference between this world andany other the ExPe has investigated."
"Now what could that be?" Nogol wanted to know with a tiny smile.
"These worlds are _close_. The gravity is low. You wouldn't need muchmore than a jet plane to get from one of these planetoids to another.Some animals have developed with the power to travel from one of theseplanetoids to another--like a squid jetting out water. They harnessedsome natural power system."
"What does that prove?" Ryan wanted to know.
"It proves that this world and others in this belt are _prepared_ forinterplanetary travel. It's probably a part of their basic evolutionalstructure, unlike that of heavy, independent planets. This false 'dying'is part of their preparation for interplanetary visitors."
"Why would these aliens want others to think that they were dead?" Ryanasked.
"Correction, captain. They want visitors to believe that they _can_die."
* * * * *
Ryan blinked. "Meaning that they _can't_ die?"
"That's right. I think everything on this planet has immortality,"Ekstrohm said. "I'm not exactly sure how. Maybe it has to do with thelow radiation. Every individual cell has a 'memory' of the wholecreature. But as we age that 'memory' becomes faulty, our cells 'forget'how to reproduce themselves exactly. Here, that cell 'memory' neverfades. Bodies renew themselves indefinitely."
"But why hide it?" Nogol asked.
"This planetoid can just support so many creatures. They practice birthcontrol among themselves," the surveyor said. "The natives naturallywant to discourage colonization."
Ryan whistled. "Once we report this, every rich and powerful man in theFederation will want to come here to live. There's not enough space togo around. There will be wars over this little hunk of rock."
Nogol's hard, dark eyes were staring into space. "There's only onesensible thing to do. We'll keep the world to ourselves."
"I don't like that kind of talk," Ryan growled.
"Ryan, this little ball of dirt isn't going to do the Federation as awhole any good. But it can be of value to us. We can make ourselvescomfortable here. Later on, we can bring in some women. Any women wewant. Who wouldn't want to come here?"
Ryan began to argue, but Ekstrohm could see he was hooked. The man whorisked his life, the man who sought something new and different, theexplorer, was basically an unstable type removed from the mainstream ofcivilization. Nothing was liable to change that.
By nightfall, Ryan and Ekstrohm had agreed.
"We'll have to keep a constant watch," Ryan was saying. "We'll have towatch out for ExPe scouts looking for us. Or, after a few generations,another ship may come to complete the mapping."
Nogol smiled. "We'll have to keep an eye on each other too, you know.One of us may get to wanting more room for more women. Or to havechildren, a normal biological urge. Death by violence isn't ruled outhere."
"I don't like that kind of talk," Ryan blustered.
Nogol smiled.
Ekstrohm thought of the others, of the sleepless, watchful nights aheadof them. That was probably his trouble, all of his life. He didn't trustpeople; he had to stay awake and keep an eye on everybody. Well, hewould be one ahead here.
Of course, it was wrong not to trust anybody, but Ekstrohm knew habitpatterns were hard to break.
Sleep is a habit.
* * * * *
Ryan and Nogol were jarred awake in the night by the spaceship blastingoff without them. They ran out and shook their tiny fists in fury at therising flame.
Operating a spaceship alone was no cinch but it could be done. Ekstrohmwould get back to the nearest Federation base and report the planetoidwithout death. He didn't have absolute confidence in any government, no.But he suspected the Federation could do more with the world than twomen like Ryan and Nogol.
Ekstrohm took his fingers off the punchboard and lay back on his couch.
He yawned.
Ryan and Nogol were slow, but in time they might have learned to dowithout sleep, and to guard their treasure night and day.
Fortunately, Ekstrohm knew from long experience what the two othersdidn't.
An eternity without sleep isn't worth the price.
--END
Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from _If: Worlds of Science Fiction_ July 1961. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note.
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