"Your father, Miss Graham--" Grossman bent forward across the table to lend emphasis to his warning--"maintains a post on Titan by sufference only. Because the natives have not the strength nor the weapons with which to rebel. But if ever the day dawns when they find such strength or weapons--" Grossman drew a deep breath and shook his head--"Then ... Lord help all like us who dwell on Titan!" II _It had arrived. It had found a birthing-place. It grew. There in the lone, lorn silence, in the thawing warmth of the nourishing sands. It spawned according to its nature._ _It made no sound save that of a thin, dry grating as Its shell-like covering stirred against the sides of the pit. But a change had come upon Its carapace. Its one-time stony surface now was mottled with yolky cloud; Its one-time opaque walls were now translucent with a jelly-like shimmering. And from within the egg came the bruit of liquid movement. Slow, groping movement of Life that would be free. Amorphous hands scraped and slithered at softening, yielding walls. A single flake chipped and fell away from the gigantic shell. Another followed it. Another ... and another._ _A native of the planet, random-roaming, chanced upon the pit. His nostrils quivered with the scent of food. With greedy stealth he moved upon his prey._ _And then:_ _And then the native witnessed the phenomenon. Wide-eyed with wonder he beheld the monstrous sight ... the ultimate emergence of the Thing!_ _In his dull, brutelike brain there dawned a dreadful fear. A fear ... and a great hope! On trembling limbs he fell back from the pit, all thoughts of food forgotten, turned and scampered to the city whence he had come._ _Meanwhile, the sprawling, raw and new-fledged Thing lay gasping in the sunlight, sucking strength from the depths of the nourishing soil. It was born. It grew...._ III A strained silence followed the factor's final words. A silence during which Lynn Graham's troubled gaze swept the table, searching reassurance--finding none--in the eyes of her dinner companions. A silence during which Dr. Rockingham Roswell fidgeted uneasily, removed his glasses, breathed upon them, polished them, and replaced them for the hundredth time. It was Captain Burke who finally broke the spell. He cleared his throat and rose. "Well, I must be getting along to the bridge. We'll be at New Boston space-port in a matter of minutes now. I suggest that you go to your staterooms, see that your luggage is in order, and prepare to disembark." Dr. Roswell said hesitantly, "Er ... Captain ... just a moment. When ... er ... how soon does the _Gaea_ return to Earth?" "Return to Earth! But--" Captain Burke turned a blank, uncomprehending stare upon his questioner--"but you have not yet set foot on Titan!" Dr. Roswell shuffled uncomfortably.