“It still was weird.”

“I know, but just think what it would have been like if there’d been any diplomats or military around. We met them, and stared at them, and they stared at us, and nobody tried to take anything that belonged to the others, and nobody got hurt. Things could have been worse, believe me.”

“I guess so. Did you see the way they kept counting our ships?”

“I did notice that.” Garamond recalled the repeated gesture among the onlookers, long golden fingers indicating, stepping their way along the line of aircraft.

“Seemed important to them, somehow. It was as if they’d never seen…”

“We’ve made genuine progress, Vance.” O’Hagan approached with a sheaf of hand-written notes and a recorder. “I’ve identified at least six nouns or noun-sounds in their speech and I believe I’d have done better if I’d had musical training.”

“Can’t you get somebody to help?” “I have. I’m taking Paskuda and Shelley and going into the city. We won’t stay long.”

“Take as long as you need,” Garamond said casually.

“All right, Vance.” O’Hagan gave him a searching stare. “I want to see something of their machine capability as soon as possible. I think that would be a good idea, don’t you?”

“Excellent.” Garamond had seen a flash of tangerine further down the line of aircraft and was unable to take his eyes away from it. He quickly disengaged from O’Hagan, walked towards Denise Serra but hesitated on seeing that she was involved in a discussion with the six other women of the flight crews. He was turning away when she noticed him and signalled that he was to wait. A minute later she came to him, looking warm, competent, desirable and everything else he expected a woman to be. The thought of lying with her caused a painful stab in his lower abdomen as glandular mechanisms, too long suppressed, found themselves reactivated. Denise glanced around her, frowned at the proximity of other people, and led the way towards an unspoiled area of tall grass. The quasi-intimacy of her actions pleased Garamond.

“It’s good to see you again,” he said.

“It’s good to see you, Vance. How do you feel now?”

“Better. I’m coming to life again.”

“I’m glad.” Denise gave him a speculative look. “That was an official meeting of Orbitsville Women’s League, detached chapter.”

“Oh? Carry on, Sister Denise.”

She smiled briefly. “Vance, they’ve voted to drop out of the flight.”

“Unanimously?”

“Yes. Five airplanes are going to have to give up eventually, and we might as well pick the spot. The Hummers seem friendly and making a study of their culture will give us something to do. Apart from bringing up babies, that is.”

“Do you know how many men will want to stay?”

“Most of them. I’m sorry, Vance.”

“Nobody has to apologize for the operation of simple logic.”

“But that leaves you only two aircraft, and it isn’t enough.”

“It’s all right.” Garamond wondered how long he could go on with the role of martyr before telling Denise he had already come to terms with himself.

She caught his hand. “I know how disappointed you must be.”

“You’re making it easy to take,” he said. Denise released his hand on the instant and he knew he had said something wrong. He waited impassively.

“Has Cliff not told you I’m having a baby?” Denise’s eyes were intent on his. “His baby?”

Garamond forced himself to compose a suitable reply. “He didn’t need to.” “You mean he hasn’t? Just wait till I get my hands on the big…”

“I’m not completely blind, Denise.” Garamond produced a smile for her. “I knew as soon as I saw both of you together this morning. I just haven’t got around to congratulating him yet.”

“Thanks, Vance. Out here we’ll need all the godfathers we can get.”

“Can’t help you there, I’m afraid — I’ll be a few million kilometres east of here by that time.”

“Oh!” Denise looked away from him. “I thought…”

“That I was quitting? Not until I’m forced — and you know better than I do that the computers didn’t say two aircraft couldn’t reach Beachhead City. It’s just a question of odds, isn’t it?”

“So is Russian Roulette.”

“I’ll see you around, Denise.” Garamond turned away, but she caught his arm.

“I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry.”

“Please forget it.” He squeezed her hand before removing it from his arm. “I really am glad that you and Cliff have got something good. Now, please excuse me — I have a lot of work to do.”

Garamond had been occupied for several hours on the load distribution plans for his two remaining aircraft when darkness came. He switched on the fuselage interior lights and continued working with cold concentration, ignoring the sounds of revelry which drifted into the cabin on the evening breeze. His fingers moved continually over the calculator keyboard as he laboured through dozens of load permutations, striving to decide the best uses for his payload capability. The brief penumbral twilight had fled when he felt vibrations which told him someone was coming on board. He looked up and saw O’Hagan squeezing his way towards the small chart-covered table.

“I’ve just discovered how much I used to rely on computers,” Garamond said.

O’Hagan shook his head impatiently. “I’ve just spent the most fantastic day of my life, and I need a drink to get over it. Where’s the supply?” He sat quietly while Garamond found a plastic bottle and handed it to him, then he took a short careful swallow. “This stuff hasn’t been aged much.”

“The man who made it has.”

“Like the rest of us.” O’Hagan took another drink and apparently decided he had devoted too much time to preamble. “We haven’t got a hope in hell of getting the bearings we need from these people. Know why?”

“Because they’ve no machine tools?”

“Because they make everything by hand. You knew?”

“I guessed. They’ve got some airplanes, but no airplane factory or airport. They’ve got some cars, but no car factory or roads.” “Good work, Vance — you were way ahead on that one.” O’Hagan drummed his fingers on the table, the sound filling the narrow confines of the cabin, and his voice lost some of its usual incisiveness. “They picked an entirely different road to ours. No specialization of labour, no mass production, no standardization. Anybody who wants a car or a cake-mixer builds it from scratch, if he has the time and the talent. You noticed their planes and cars were all different?”

“Yes. I noticed them counting our ships, too.”

“So did I, but I didn’t know what was going on in their minds. They must have been astonished at seeing seven identical models.”

“Not astonished,” Garamond said. “Mildly surprised, perhaps. I’ve a feeling these people haven’t much curiosity in their make-up. If you allow only one alien per house that city out there must have a population of twenty thousand or more, but I doubt if as many as two hundred came out to look at us today — and practically all those who came had their own transport.”

“You mean we got the lunatic fringe.”

“Gadgeteers anyway — probably more interested in our aircraft than in us. They could be a frustrating bunch to have as next door neighbours.”

O’Hagan stared significantly at the paperwork scattered on the table. “So you intend to press on?”

“Yes.” Garamond decided to let the single word do the work of the hundreds he might have used.

“Have you got a crew?”

“I don’t know yet.”

O’Hagan sighed heavily. “I’m sick to death of flying, Vance. It’s killing me. But I’d go crazy if I had to live beside somebody who kept inventing the steam engine every couple of years. I’ll fly with you.”

“Thanks, Dennis.” Garamond felt a warm prickling in his eyes. “I…”

“Never mind the gratitude,” O’Hagan said briskly. “Let’s see what sort of mess you’ve been making of these load distributions.”