are lost in space.
This is the first planet we have visited on our first trial of a new
method--new to us, at least--of interstellar travel. We missed our
objective, probably by many millions of parsecs, and it is quite
possible that we four will never be able to find our way back. We are
trying now, by charting the galaxies throughout billions of cubic
parsecs of space, to find merely the direction in which our own galaxy
lies."

"What a concept! What stupendous minds! But such immense distances, sir
... what can you possibly be using for a space-drive?"

"None, as you understand the term. We travel by instantaneous
translation, by means of something we call 'Gunther'.... I am not at all
sure that I can explain it to you satisfactorily, but I will try to do
so, if you wish."

"Please do so, sir, by all means."

* * *

Garlock opened the highest Gunther cells of his mind. There was nothing
as elementary as telepathy, teleportation, telekinesis, or the like; it
was the pure, raw Gunther of the Gunther Drive, which even he himself
made no pretense of understanding fully. He opened those cells and
pushed that knowledge at the two Hodellian minds.

The result was just as instantaneous and just as catastrophic as Garlock
had expected. Both blocks went up almost instantly.

"Oh, no!" Atterlin exclaimed, his face turning white.

The girl shrieked once, covered her face with her hands, and collapsed
on the floor.

"Oh, I'm _so_ sorry ... excuse my ignorance, please!" Garlock implored,
as he picked the girl up, carried her across the room to a sofa, and
assured himself that she had not been really hurt. She recovered
quickly. "I'm very sorry, Grand Lady Neldine and Governor Atterlin, but
I didn't know ... that is, I didn't realize...."

"You are trying to break it gently." Atterlin was both shocked and
despondent. "This being the first planet you have visited, you simply
did not realize how feeble our minds really are."

"Oh, not at all, really, sir and lady." Garlock began deftly to repair
the morale he had shattered. "Merely younger. With your system of
genetics, so much more logical and efficient than our strict monogamy,
your race will undoubtedly make more progress in a few centuries than we
made in many millennia. And in a few centuries more you will pass
us--will master this only partially-known Gunther Drive.

"Esthetically, Lady Neldine, I would like very much to father you a