A star of intensely bright green lightning split the clouds and widened to cover the visible expanse of sky. There was a planet-shaking clap of thunder that made Greenfield's puny efforts sound like the snapping of twigs in comparison and it began to rain hard and fast. * * * * * "If only I hadn't gone and blasted that damn rock," the captain grumbled, squeezing water out of his shirt-tails, "we'd have been all right. Probably the storm wouldn't have done a thing to the ship except get it wet. If you can even call it a storm." "I can and I do," Jrann-Pttt replied, haughtily squeegeeing his wet scales. "All I said was that a storm might be coming up and it might be dangerous. How was I to know it would last only half an hour?" "Even the camp stools pulled through," Greenfield pointed out, "and you said shelters wouldn't stand up." "I only said they might not. Can't you understand your own language?" The fissure in the clouds had not quite closed yet and through it the enormous, blazing disk of the sun glared at them, twice as large as it appeared from Earth. It was a moot point as to whether they'd be dried out or steamed alive first. "Might as well collect whatever gear we have left and get it to higher ground," Miss Anspacher said efficiently. "Two feet of water won't do anything any good--even those camp stools." "It's my belief you wanted this to happen," Greenfield accused Jrann-Pttt. "You wanted to get rid of us." "My dear fellow," Jrann-Pttt replied loftily, "the information I gave you was, to the best of my knowledge, accurate. However, I happen to be a professor of zoology and not a meteorologist. Apparently you people live out in the open like primitives," he continued, ignoring Dfar-Lll's admiring interjection, "and are accustomed to the vicissitudes of weather. I am a civilized creature; I live--" _or used to live_--"in an air-conditioned, light-conditioned, weather-conditioned city. It is only when I rough it on field trips like this to trackless parts of the--globe that I am forced to experience weather. Even then, I have never before been caught in a situation like this." _In fact, I was never before caught or I wouldn't be in this situation at all._ "Oh, Jrann-Pttt," sighed Miss Anspacher, "I knew you couldn't be just an ordinary native!" "How did you get into this situation then?" Professor Bernardi asked. He had an unfortunate talent for going directly to the point. "The third member of our expedition died," Jrann-Pttt explained. "He was our dirigational expert. Our guide." "How did he happen to--" "Are we just going to stand here chatting," Miss Anspacher demanded, "or are we going to do something about this?" "What can we do?" Mrs. Bernardi asked weakly. "We might just as well lie down and--" "Never say die, Louisa," Miss Anspacher admonished.