once, with crowbars, hammers, anything that was heavy
and hard.

The telescopic sights shattered into bits. The wiring was pulled out,
torn to shreds. The delicate gears were smashed, dented.

Finally the warheads themselves were carried off and the firing pins
removed.

The gun was smashed, the great weapon destroyed. The people went down
into the vault and examined the treasure. With its metal-armored
guardian dead there was no danger any longer. They studied the pictures,
the films, the crates of books, the jeweled crowns, the cups, the
statues.

At last, as the sun was dipping into the gray mists that drifted across
the planet they came back up the stairs again. For a moment they stood
around the wrecked gun looking at the unmoving outline of it.

Then they started back to the ship. There was still much work to be
done. The ship had been badly hurt, much had been damaged and lost. The
important thing was to repair it as quickly as possible, to get it into
the air.

With all of them working together it took just five more days to make it
spaceworthy.

* * * * *

Nasha stood in the control room, watching the planet fall away behind
them. She folded her arms, sitting down on the edge of the table.

"What are you thinking?" Dorle said.

"I? Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"I was thinking that there must have been a time when this planet was
quite different, when there was life on it."

"I suppose there was. It's unfortunate that no ships from our system
came this far, but then we had no reason to suspect intelligent life
until we saw the fission glow in the sky."

"And then it was too late."

"Not quite too late. After all, their possessions, their music, books,
their pictures, all of that will survive. We'll take them home and study
them, and they'll change us. We won't be the same afterwards. Their
sculpturing, especially. Did you see the one of the great winged
creature, without a head or arms? Broken off, I suppose. But those
wings-- It looked very old. It will change us a great deal."

"When we come back we won't find the gun waiting for us," Nasha said.
"Next time it won't be there to shoot us down. We can land and take the
treasure, as you call it." She smiled up at Dorle. "You'll lead us back
there, as a good captain should."

"Captain?" Dorle grinned. "Then you've decided."

Nasha shrugged. "Fomar argues with me too much. I think, all in all, I
really prefer