ANIMAT By BASIL WELLS Battling Venus' slime and vicious frog-apes, J46 yet found time to wonder: Was he a man or an android? [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Planet Stories Spring 1949. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] For too long had the _Sun Maiden_ been plunging sunward, her meteor-crushed jets and warped plates feeling the relentless chill of space eating swiftly inward. Past the orbit of Mars; down past Earth's sector of space, and into the pull of Venus she flashed, her pace quickening. And crew-members, sweating and hollow-eyed within the foul closeness of space suits, worked desperately to repair that all-but hopeless damage. Abruptly the forward jets flared raggedly. The great ship faltered; its course shifted planetward, and even as the clouds swallowed the _Sun Maiden_ the first of the patched jets exploded. The remaining rockets flared briefly and died. The captain jettisoned cargo and equipment before releasing the eight undamaged emergency vanes. The shrieking solidity of the Wet Planet's air ripped the sturdy blades away as though they had been tinfoil and the ship's fall remained unslackened. The slanting plunge ended at last. The nose plowed down a rocky mountain slope, crumbling with the impact, caromed off a boulder-strewn bench, and ripped through a tree-clad lower level into a mossy-grassed meadow. There, in a soggy treeless hollow, the scarred hulk that had been the _Sun Maiden_ came to rest.... * * * * * Jay Forsix turned puzzled eyes on the little knot of survivors beside the ship. His fair-skinned face was square, like his powerful short body, and there was red hair sprouting from beneath the gray plastin of his control case's helmet. Jay looked like a man; he even talked, in a meager jerky fashion, like a man, but he was actually an android robot. Animats, Inc. turned out thousands of superior robots for the industries of Earth and Mars--durable, foolproof _expensive_ machines they were. But for the uranium mines of Jupiter's moons they also had begun to create these inexpensive living blends of animate flesh and bone, synthetic moronic creatures. "There are six animats--and us!" choked the little blonde haired girl. Already the constant moisture of the atmosphere coated her skin with shining dampness. Her companion, a tall dark-skinned girl, rubbed a bruised elbow thoughtfully. Her teeth flashed in a rueful smile. "Bottle the tears," she snapped at the blonde girl, slapping her shoulder, "we got plenty water without them." The smaller girl drew herself up. "Perhaps you don't know who I am. I'm Thela Draper. My father owns most of Animats, Inc." The tall girl laughed. "X with me, Thela. We're in the same fix. No putting on a front--all we'll be doing is keep alive until help comes."