Collector's Item, Page 2

outcropping 'bout two kilometersaway," Greenfield said grudgingly. He shifted his camp stool in a futilesearch for shade. Even though the sun never penetrated the thick layerof clouds, the yellow light diffused through them was blinding. "Mightbe big enough, but it's not level. Could blast it smooth, but that'dtake at least a week--Earth time."

  Bernardi pulled his damp shirt away from his body. "Well, I daresaywe'll be all right where we are, if we're not assailed by any violentforces of nature. On Earth, this might be a monsoon climate."

  "If you ask me, that monster is more of a danger than any monsoon."

  Bernardi sighed. Although by far the most competent officer availablefor the job of spaceship captain, Greenfield was not quite the man hewould have chosen to be his associate for months on end. Still,beggars--as Miss Anspacher might have eloquently put it--could not bechoosers. "What makes you say that?" he asked, trying to set an exampleof tolerance.

  "Don't like the idea of him cooking for us," the captain saidstubbornly. "Might poison us all in our beds."

  "Well, don't eat in your bed," suggested Mortland, strolling out of theairlock in the company of the cat. Algol, however, finding that the spotbeside the captain's camp stool was as dry as anything could be onVenus, decided to turn back.

  * * * * *

  "The difficulty is easily overcome, Captain," the professor said, stillholding on to his patience. "You can continue to cook your own mealsfrom the tinned and packaged foods on board ship. The rest of us willeat fresh native foods prepared by Jrann-Pttt."

  "But why," Miss Anspacher interrupted as she emerged from the airlockwith a large cast-iron skillet, "should you think Jrann-Pttt wants topoison us?"

  Both men rose from their stools. "Stands to reason he'd consider us hisenemies, Miss Anspacher," the captain said. "After all, we--as a group,that is--captured him."

  "Hired him," Professor Bernardi contradicted. "I've telepathicallyarranged to pay him an adequate salary. In goods, of course; I don'tsuppose our money would be of much use to him. And I think he's ratherglad of the chance to hang around and observe us conveniently."

  "Observe us!" Greenfield exclaimed. "You mean he's spying out the landfor an attack? Let's prepare our defenses at once!"

  "I doubt if that's what he has in mind," Professor Bernardi saidjudiciously.

  "He may be staying because he wants to be near me," Miss Anspacherblurted. Overcome by this unmaidenly admission, she reddened and rushedfrom them, calling, "Yoo-hoo, Jrann-Pttt! Here is the frying pan!" Algolwoke up instantly and followed her. "Frying" was one of the moreimportant words in his vocabulary.

  Captain Greenfield stared across the clearing after them, then turnedback to Bernardi with a frown. "I don't like to see one of our girlsmixed up with a lizard--and a foreign lizard at that." But his face tooclearly betrayed a personal resentment.

  "Don't tell me you have a--a fondness for Miss Anspacher, Captain,"Professor Bernardi exclaimed, genuinely surprised. Undeniably MissAnspacher--although no longer in her first youth--was a handsome woman,but he would not have expected her somewhat cerebral type to appeal tothe captain. On the other hand, she was the only unattached woman in theparty and they were a long way from home.

  Greenfield picked a fleck of dried violet mud from the side of the shipand avoided Bernardi's eye. "One of the reasons I came along," he saidalmost bashfully. "Thought I'd have the chance to be alone with her nowand again and impress her with, with...."

  "Your sterling qualities?" Bernardi suggested.

  The captain flashed him a glance of mingled gratitude and resentment."And now this damned lizard has to come along!"

  "Cheer up, Captain," said the professor. "I'll back you against a lizardany time."

  * * * * *

  Although the long twilight of Venus had deepened into night and it couldnever really be cool there by terrestrial standards, the temperature wasalmost comfortable. Everything was quite black, except for the pallidpurple campfire glowing through the darkness; the clouds thatperpetually covered the surface of the planet prevented even the lightof the stars from reaching it.

  "Tell me more about the cross-versus the parallel-cousin relationshipsin your culture, Jrann-Pttt," Miss Anspacher breathed, wriggling hercamp stool closer to the saurian's. "Anthropology is a great hobby ofmine, you know. How do your people feel about exogamy?"

  "I'm afraid I'm rather exhausted, dear lady," he said, using one arm tomask a yawn, and one to surreptitiously wave away the saurian head thatwas peering out of the underbrush. "I shouldn't like to give a scientistlike yourself any misinformation that might become a matter of record."

  "Of course not," she murmured. "You're so considerate."

  * * * * *

  A pale face appeared in the firelight like some weird creature ofdarkness. Terrestrial and extraterrestrial both started. "MissAnspacher," the captain growled, "I'd like to lock up the ship, so ifyou wouldn't mind turning in--"

  Miss Anspacher pouted. "You've interrupted such an interestingconversation. And I don't see why you have to lock up the ship. Afterall, the night is three hundred and eighty-five hours long. We don'tsleep all that time and it would be a shame to be cooped up."

  "I'm going to try to rig up some floodlights," Greenfield explainedstiffly, "so we won't be caught like this again. Nobody bothered to tellme the day equals thirty-two of ours, so that half of it would benight."

  "Then I won't see you for almost two weeks of our time, Jrann-Pttt? Areyou sure you wouldn't like to spend the rest of the night in our ship?Plenty of room, you know."

  "No, thank you, dear lady. The jungle is my natural habitat. I shouldfeel stultified by walls and a ceiling. Don't worry--I shan't run away."

  "Oh, I'm not worried," Miss Anspacher said coyly, throwing a stick ofwood on the fire.

  "Small riddance if he does."

  "Captain Greenfield!"

  That part of the captain's face not concealed by his piratical blackbeard turned red. "Well, if he can read our minds, he knows damn wellwhat I'm thinking, anyway, so why be hypocritical about it?"

  "That's right--he is a telepath, isn't he?" Miss Anspacher's face greweven redder than the captain's. "I forgot he.... It _is_ getting late. Ireally must go. Good night, Jrann-Pttt."

  "Good night, dear lady." The saurian bowed low over her hand.

  Leaning on the captain's brawny arm, Miss Anspacher ploughed through themud to the ship, followed by the mosquito-bat and Algol, who had beentoasting themselves more or less companionably at the fire. The door tothe airlock clanged behind all four of them.

  * * * * *

  The other saurian's head appeared again from the bush. _Jrann-Pttt_, theinsistent thought came, _shall I rescue you now_?

  _Why, Dfar-Lll? I am not a prisoner. I'm quite free to come and goas I please. But let's get away from the strangers' ship while wecommunicate. They do have a certain amount of low-grade perception andmight be able to sense the presence of another personality. At any rate,they might look out of a port and see you._

  Keeping the illuminator on low beam, Dfar-Lll led the way through thebushes. _Seems to me you're going to an awful lot of trouble just to getzoo specimens_, the youngster protested, disentangling its arms from theembrace of an amorous vine. _There's really no reason for carrying onthe work since Lieutenant Merglyt-Ruuu ... passed on._

  Jrann-Pttt sat down on a fallen log and, tucking up his graceful tail,signaled his junior to join him. _In the event that we do decide toreturn to base, some handsome specimens might serve to offset thelieutenant's demise._

  _Return to base? But I thought we were...._

  _We haven't found swamp life pleasant, have we? After all, there's noreal reason why we shouldn't go back. Is it our fault that Merglyt-Ruuuhappened to meet with a fatal accident?_

  _We-ell ... but will the commandant see it that way?_

  _On the other hand, if we don't go back, wouldn't it be
a good idea toattach ourselves to an expedition that, no matter how alien, is betterequipped for survival than we? And carrying out our original purposeseemed the best way of getting to meet these strangers informally, as itwere._

  _They are unquestionably intelligent life-forms then?_

  _After a fashion._ Jrann-Pttt yawned and rose. _But why are we sittinghere? Let's start back to our camp. We will be able to converse morecomfortably._

  They made their way