escalators, Alpha was just touching the
western horizon, and Beta was a little past zenith. The ship was moored
on contragravity beside the landing stage, her gangplank run out. The
shoonoon, who had gone up ahead, had all stopped short and were staring
at her; then they began gabbling among themselves, overcome by the
wonder of being about to board such a monster and ride on her. She was
the biggest ship any of them had ever seen. Maybe a few of them had been
on small freighters; many of them had never been off the ground. They
didn't look or act like cynical charlatans or implacable enemies of
progress and enlightenment. They were more like a lot of schoolboys
whose teacher is taking them on a surprise outing.

"Bet this'll be the biggest day in their lives," Travis said.

"Oh, sure. This'll be a grandfather-story ten generations from now."

"I can't get over the way they made up their minds, down there," Edith
Shaw was saying. "Why, they just went and talked for a few minutes and
came back with a decision."

They hadn't any organization, or any place to maintain on an
organizational pecking-order. Nobody was obliged to attack anybody
else's proposition in order to keep up his own status. He thought of the
Colonial Government taking ten years not to build those storm-shelters.

Foxx Travis was commenting on the ship, now:

"I never saw that ship before; didn't know there was anything like that
on the planet. Why, you could lift a whole regiment, with supplies and
equipment--"

"She's been laid up for the last five years, since the heat and the
native troubles stopped the tourist business here. She's the old
_Hesperus_. Excursion craft. This sun-chasing trip we're going to make
used to be a must for tourists here."

"I thought she was something like that, with all the glassed
observation deck forward. Who's the owner?"

"Kwannon Air Transport, Ltd. I told them what I needed her for, and they
made her available and furnished officers and crew and provisions for
the trip. They were working to put her in commission while we were
fitting up the fourth and fifth floors, downstairs."

"You just asked for that ship, and they just let you have it?" Edith
Shaw was incredulous and shocked. They wouldn't have done that for the
Government.

"They want to see these native troubles stopped, too. Bad for business.
You know; selfish profit-move. That's another social force it's a good
idea to work with instead of against