"I am Executive Officer aboard this ship, Captain. I know the meaning of performing my duties. But if you are looking for moral approbation in all of this, I cannot give it. The way I put it all together, I think it would be less a waste if we were to raise ship right now and set a course directly for Earth." "Why? Are you afraid, Mr. Rogers?" "No. It's just that I'm not given much to the idea of playing God." Kingsford stopped at the door. "I seem to have underestimated you, Mr. Rogers," he said. He opened the cabin hatch and stepped through. * * * * * The setting down went off without a hitch, and the job of establishing Kingsford's precautionary system began. I was the first out of the ship, meeting the density of the atmosphere for which Kingsford had prepared me. It was thick, yet not oppressive like the heavy tropical atmosphere on Earth. It did not restrict movement, the gravitational force being less than that of Earth. One seemed to counter-balance the other to give a man equal physical capabilities to those on Earth. With Pierce, I scouted the area within a few miles of the ship, chose certain high grounds for emplacements and watches, then returned and began the deployment of the arms and crew to the chosen spots. I worked out a schedule of rotation so that the outer emplacements would be manned for no more than three hours by any one group. During this entire operation, there was no sign of animal life on the planet. The climate seemed sub-tropical and vegetable life proportional to this climate abounded. Fruit trees and plains of grass, forests and spots of dense undergrowth, much like the greenery of a dozen planets I had seen. But there was no sound, and absolutely no discernible movement of air. The mountain chain I had seen noted on Kingsford's chart stood off in the far horizon, and the land about us was all rolling hills and plains. During the apportioning of arms, I remembered Kingsford's paper to be posted. I got it from my cabin and read it. It was a public statement in which Kingsford offered ten percent of his captain's share to the first man to spot the quarry. This reduced the potential benefits to the heirs of the Essex's crew by ten percent. I noted the fact, but gave it little thought. It was Kingsford's affair. I opened the general communications switch and read the statement to the crew. The response was electrifying. Shouts and cheers from every quarter of the ship. The general air of a group of sportsmen on a chase rapidly took over the whole feeling of the expedition, and, as executive officer charged with posting the watch, I was approached by most of the crew members with entreaties and even bribes by each, to be assigned to the outermost emplacements. Kingsford's methods certainly bore results. It kept everybody from thinking, but I do not believe that this was his intention.