mammoths and such. So I think it would
be fun to hear that we were in orbit and that a boat landing was in
order."

Bordman grunted. There were no longer adventures. The universe was
settled; civilized. Of course there were still frontier planets--Xosa II
was one--but pioneers had only hardships. Not adventures.

* * * * *

The ship-phone speaker clicked. It said curtly:

"_Notice. We have arrived at Xosa II and have established an orbit about
it. A landing will be made by boat._"

Bordman's mouth dropped open.

"What the devil's this?" he demanded.

"Adventure, maybe," said Aletha. Her eyes crinkled very pleasantly when
she smiled. She wore the modern Amerind dress--a sign of pride in the
ancestry which now implied such diverse occupations as interstellar
steel construction and animal husbandry and llano-planet colonization.
"If it were adventure, as the only girl on this ship I'd have to be in
the landing party, lest the tedium of orbital waiting make the"--her
smile widened to a grin--"the pent-up restlessness of trouble-makers in
the crew----"

The ship-phone clicked again.

"_Mr. Bordman. Miss Redfeather. According to advices from the ground,
the ship may have to stay in orbit for a considerable time. You will
accordingly be landed by boat. Will you make yourselves ready, please,
and report to the boat-blister?_" The voice paused and added, "_Hand
luggage only, please._"

Aletha's eyes brightened. Bordman felt the shocked incredulity of a man
accustomed to routine when routine is impossibly broken. Of course
survey ships made boat landings from orbit, and colony ships let down
robot hulls by rocket when there was as yet no landing grid for the
handling of a ship. But never before in his experience had an ordinary
freighter, on a routine voyage to a colony ready for its final
degree-of-completion survey, ever landed anybody by boat.

"This is ridiculous!" said Bordman, fuming.

"Maybe it's adventure," said Aletha. "I'll pack."

She disappeared into her cabin. Bordman hesitated. Then he went into his
own. The colony on Xosa II had been established two years ago. Minimum
comfort conditions had been realized within six months. A temporary
landing grid for light supply ships was up within a year. It had
permitted stock-piling, and it had been taken down to be rebuilt as a
permanent grid with every possible contingency provided for. The eight
months since the last ship lan