more deliberately in larger
paths. There were comets of telescopic size, and there were
meteorites, and the sun Tallien sent up monstrous flares, and storms
of improbable snow swept about in the methane atmosphere of the
greater gas giant of this particular celestial family of this sun and
its satellites. But the cosmos in general paid no attention to human
activities or usually undesirable intentions. Calhoun listened,
frowning, to the agitated, commanding voice. He still didn't like it.

Suddenly, it cut off. The Med Ship approached the planet to which it
had been ordered by Sector Headquarters now some months ago. Calhoun
examined the nearing world via electron telescope. On the hemisphere
rolling to a position under the Med Ship he saw a city of some size,
and he could trace highways, and there were lesser human settlements
here and there. At full magnification he could see where forests had
been cut away in wedges and half-squares, with clear spaces between
them. This indicated cultivated ground, cleared for human use in the
invincibly tidy-minded manner of men.

Presently he saw the landing grid near the biggest city--that
half-mile-high, cagelike wall of intricately braced steel girders. It
tapped the planet's ionosphere for all the power that this world's
inhabitants could use, and applied the same power to lift up and let
down the ships of space by which communication with the rest of
humanity was maintained. From this distance, though, even with an
electron telescope, Calhoun could see no movement of any sort. There
was no smoke, because electricity from the grid provided all the
planet's power and heat, and there were no chimneys. The city looked
like a colored map, with infinite detail but nothing which stirred.

A tiny voice spoke. It was the voice of the spaceport.

"_Calling Med Ship. Grid locking on. Right?_"

"Go ahead," said Calhoun. He turned up the communicator.

The voice from the ground said carefully:

"_Better stand by your controls. If anything happens down here you may
need to take emergency action._"

Calhoun raised his eyebrows. But he said:

"All set."

He felt the cushiony, fumbling motions as force fields from the
landing grid groped for the Med Ship and centered it in their complex
pattern. Then there came the sudden solid feeling when the grid locked
on. The Med Ship began to settle, at first slowly but with increasing
speed, toward the ground below.

It was all very famil