Murgatroyd! Hold fast!"

The universe vanished. The customary unpleasant sensations accompanied
the change. Murgatroyd burped.

* * * * *




6


A large part of the firmament was blotted out by the blindingly bright
half-disk of Weald, as it shone in the sunshine. It had icecaps at its
poles, and there were seas, and the mottled look of land which had
that carefully maintained balance of woodland and cultivated areas
which was so effective in climate control. The Med Ship floated free,
and Calhoun fretfully monitored all the beacon frequencies known to
man.

There was relative silence inside the ship. Maril watched Calhoun in a
sort of despairing indecision. The four young blueskins still slept,
still bound hand and foot upon the control room floor. Murgatroyd
regarded them, and Maril, and Calhoun in turn, and his small and furry
forehead wrinkled helplessly.

"They can't have landed what I'm looking for!" protested Calhoun as
his search had no result. "They can't! It would be too sensible for
them to have done it!"