Tellier was thin and intellectual, a descendant of the physicist Dr. Tellier who had made many speed experiments in the early days of the voyage. It had never been understood why spaceships could not attain even a good fraction of the speed of light, let alone velocities greater than light. When the scientist met his untimely death, there was no one with the training to carry on a testing program. It was vaguely believed by the trained personnel who succeeded Tellier that the ship had run into one of the paradoxes implicit in the Lorenz-Fitzgerald Contraction theory. Whatever the explanation, it was never solved. Watching Tellier, Lesbee wondered if his companion and best friend felt as empty inside as he did. Incredibly, this was the first time he--or anyone--had been outside the big ship. "We're actually heading down," he thought, "to one of those great masses of land and water, a planet." As he watched, fascinated, the massive ball grew visibly bigger. They came in at a slant, a long, swift, angling approach, ready to jet away if any of the natural radiation belts proved too much for their defense systems. But as each stage of radiation registered in turn, the dials showed that the lifeboat machinery made the proper responses automatically. The silence was shattered suddenly by an alarm bell. Simultaneously, one of the screens focused on a point of rapidly moving light far below. The light darted toward them. A missile! Lesbee caught his breath. But the shining projectile veered off, turned completely around, took up position several miles away, and began to fall with them. His first thought was: "They'll never let us land," and he experienced an intense disappointment. Another signal brrred from the control board. "They're probing us," said Tellier, tensely. An instant after the words were uttered, the lifeboat seemed to shudder and to stiffen under them. It was the unmistakable feel of a tractor beam. Its field clutched the lifeboat, drew it, held it. The science of the Alta III inhabitants was already proving itself formidable. Underneath him the lifeboat continued its movement. The entire crew gathered around and watched as the point of brightness resolved into an object, which rapidly grew larger. It loomed up close, bigger than they. There was a metallic bump. The lifeboat shuddered from stem to stern. Even before the vibrations ceased Tellier said, "Notice they put our airlock against theirs." Behind Lesbee, his companions began that peculiar joking of the threatened. It was a coarse comedy, but it had enough actual humor suddenly to break through his fear. Involuntarily he found himself laughing. Then, momentarily free of anxiety, aware that Browne was watching and that there was no escape, he said, "Open the airlock! Let the aliens capture us as ordered." II