ust float in orbits bearing such-and-such relationships to each
other. There must also be a law that planets in those orbits must bear
such-and-such relationships of size to each other. There must be a law
that winds must blow under ordinary conditions, and clouds form at
appointed heights and times. It would be very remarkable if Earth were
an exception to natural laws that other worlds obey.

So the strangeness of the morning to those who watched from the ship was
more like the strangeness of an alien land on Earth than that of a
wholly alien planet.

The lower dawnmist thinned. Gazing down, Cochrane saw dark masses
moving slowly past the ship's three metal landing-fins. They were the
beasts of the night, moving deliberately from their bed-ground to the
vast plains inland. There were bunches of hundreds, and bunches of
scores. There were occasional knots of dozens only.

From overhead and through the mist Cochrane could not see individual
animals too clearly, but they were heavy beasts and clumsy ones. They
moved sluggishly. Their numbers dwindled. He saw groups of no more than
four or five. He saw single animals trudging patiently away.

He saw no more at all.

Then the sunlight touched the inland hills. The last of the morning mist
dissolved, and there were the dead bodies of two beasts near the base of
the ship. Johnny Simms had killed them with his first panicky shots of
the night. There was another dead beast a quarter-mile away.

Cochrane gave orders. Jones and Al could not leave the ship. They were
needed to get it back to Earth, with full knowledge of how to make other
starships. Cochrane tried to leave Babs behind, but she would not stay.
Bell had loaded himself with a camera and film-tape besides a weapon,
before Cochrane even began his organization. Holden was needed for an
extra gun. Alicia, tearless and despairing, would not be left behind.
Cochrane turned wryly to Jamison.

"I don't think Johnny was killed," he said. "He'd gotten a long way off
before it happened, anyhow. We've got to hunt for him. With beasts like
those of last night, there'll naturally be other creatures to prey on
them. We might run into anything. If we don't get back, you get to the
lawyers I've had representing Spaceways. They'll get rich off the job,
but you'll end up rich, too."

"The best bet all around," said Jamison in a low tone, "would be to find
him trampled to death."

"I agree," said Cochrane sourly. "But apparen