through the stars to Sol, to Earth. The utter desolation
which swept over him at the impact of his aloneness was more than he
could endure, and he forced himself to think of something else.

Why was he here then? John Tyndall, 3rd Engineer of the starship
_Polaris_. It had been such a routine trip, ferrying a group of
zoologists and biologists around the galaxy looking for unclassified
life-supporting planets. They had found such a world circling an obscure
sun half way across the galaxy. An ideal world for research expedition,
teeming with life, the scientists were delighted. In a few short months
they discovered and cataloged over a thousand varieties of flora and
fauna peculiar to this planet, called Arrill, after the native name
which sounded something like Ahhrhell. Yes, there were natives,
humanoid, civilized and gracious. They had seemed to welcome the
strangers, as a matter of fact they had seemed to expect them.

The Arrillians had learned English easily, its basic sounds not being
too alien to their own tongue. They had quite a city there on the edge
of the jungle, although, in circling the planet before landing, the
expedition had noted that this was the only city. On a world only a
little smaller than Earth, one city, surrounded completely by the
tropical jungle which covered the rest of the world. A city without
power, without machinery of any kind, and yet a city that was
self-sufficient.

Well-tilled fields stretched to the very edge of the jungle, where high
walls kept out the voracious growth. The fields fed the city well, and
clothed it well. And there were mines to yield up fine metal and
precious gems. The Earthmen had marveled, and yet, it had seemed
strange. On all this planet, just one city with perhaps half a million
people within its walls. But this was not a problem for the expedition.

The crew of the _Polaris_ and the members of the expedition had spent
many an enjoyable evening in the dining hall of the palace-like home of
the Rhal, who was something more than a mayor and something less than a
king. Actually, Arrill seemed to get along with a minimum of government.
All in all, the Earthmen had summed up the Arrillians as being a naive,
mild, and courteous people. They probably still thought so, all of them,
that is, except Tyndall.

Of course, now that he looked back upon it, there has been a few
things ... that business about the Bugs, as the Earthmen had dubbed the
oddly ugly creature