Dalgard's gaze followed Sssuri's pointing finger. But what he saw
bobbing up and down, pulled a little downstream by the current, did
not particularly reassure him. It was manifestly a boat, but the form
was as alien as the city around them.




4

CIVILIZATION


Raf surveyed the wide sweep of prairie where dawn gave a gray tinge to
soften the distance and mark the rounded billows of the ever-rippling
grass. He tried to analyze what it was about this world which made it
seem so untouched, so fresh and new. There were large sections of his
own Terra which had been abandoned after the Big Burn-Off and the
atomic wars, or later after the counterrevolution which had defeated
the empire of Pax, during which mankind had slipped far back on the
road to civilization. But he had never experienced this same feeling
when he had ventured into those wildernesses. Almost he could believe
that the records Hobart had showed him were false, that this world had
never known intelligent life herding together in cities.

He walked slowly down the ramp, drawing deep breaths of the crisp air.
The day would grow warmer with the rising sun. But now it was just the
sort of morning which led him to be glad he was alive--and young!
Maybe part of it was because he was free of the ship and at last not
just excess baggage but a man with a definite job before him.