earth is
comparatively small. The sand dunes now have hardened and the tidal sway
of its surface can be felt only slightly. The moon no longer turns on
its axis and it has no sweetly scented cyanide in its atmosphere. It has
no atmosphere of any sort. But it stands now as it did when I left it,
glorious in death. Since I departed, no living thing has trod its soil.

My scientific sense instinctively came to the rescue as I approached the
earth. I felt a strong gravity wrenching at my vitals and so instead of
trying reverse levitation, I spread my processes so that the atmosphere
caught in the folds of my skin and I came floating gently down to the
ground without harm.

The earth was much as it had appeared through the molecule telescope. It
was covered with green vegetation, good, rich, nourishing stuff. And
there was enough to feed Mjly and me for a million years.

There were no animals of any sort. Again I went to my scientific sense
for the answer. I realized that while vegetable life was far advanced,
animal life had yet to appear. Mjly was the first of this type of life
ever to set foot on terrestrial soil.

But where was she? On the moon, I could often locate her a thousand
miles away by a simple radio call. Although the earth was much larger
than the moon, I did not doubt that she was within a thousand miles. So
I generated power and issued a call.

I waited for the response. It came feebly to my antenna.

Using my sense of direction, I pushed through the vegetation in search
of her. I did not levitate, because the feebleness of her call indicated
she might be hurt and on the ground. Besides, levitation is much more
difficult on the earth than on the moon.

The reply came stronger to my next call and I sensed through seven of my
senses that she was near. She was on the ground, probably injured, which
explained why she had not returned as she had promised.

I came to a patch of wilderness, a great marshy plain. In the middle of
this swamp was a crater, like those caused by meteors, a deep, ugly scar
in the mud. I shuddered at the thought that my darling Mjly might have
landed there. Her weaker scientific sense might not have given her the
cue to use her skin as a parachute and she might have made the fatal
mistake of trying to reverse-levitate.

"Mjly!" I called, speaking aloud now. "Mjly! Where are you?"

"Yljm! I am here!"

Yes, the voice came from the crater. Gliding to its rim, I looked down.
A po