while, as it
hovered there. It made no move to come closer, no move to communicate
with them.

"From its markings," Tom said at last, "I think that's a special
investigation ship from the attorney general's office. Wonder what
they're doing here?"

"To make first-hand observation of my failure," Cal said shortly. "Let's
get on with our work."

Perhaps it helped the crew to realize they were not alone, that
whatever might happen to them would not only be heard on the E.H.Q.
channel back to Earth, but would also be seen by these special
observers. Perhaps it bucked them up a little to know that they were
being watched, that faltering uncertainty would be noted and scorned.
Perhaps it was the mechanical routine of air sampling and testing as
they lowered the ship by degrees.

Norton grew more relaxed, more sure of himself. Lynwood handled the ship
on manual control with ease, almost with flourish. But Louie's hands,
gripping the edges of the chart table, still showed bloodless white at
the knuckles. Perhaps because there was nothing for him to do at the
moment, he alone wasn't snapping out of it.

The tests showed normal atmosphere. It checked exactly with the readings
for this altitude established by the surveying scientists. To complete
the record, Cal repeated them aloud each time so the open communicator
would carry the information back to Earth where, by now, not only
McGinnis and Hayes would be listening, but probably a group of
scientists as well. Perhaps their hands, too, gripped the edges of
tables, showed bloodless at the knuckles?

To wait, helplessly, eleven light-years away might create more tenseness
than being right on the scene. Yet no voice came through the ship's
speaker, either from Earth or from the observer's ship.

Perhaps McGinnis, forgetting his eighty years, wished now he were at
Eden instead of Cal. Perhaps, mindful of his years, he didn't. He made
no comment.

Tom dropped the ship lower and lower, each time pausing for an air
sample. Each time they scanned the valley where the village of Appletree
should be. There was no change. Now the unlikely idea of a superimposed
mirage was dispelled. The disappearance of the colony was no trick of
vision. The ship hovered, at the last, not more than fifty feet from the
ground.

"Let's set her down, Tom," Cal said quietly.

Tom shrugged, as if that were the only thing left to do.

"You're the E," he said. His glance at Louie showed he was plac