Then Grg twitched as a _plllnk_ bit him, just under the front left double-tentacle. He combed the light fur there, found the _plllnk_, and shredded it, casting the pieces round-about so that no two of them might combine to form another _plllnk_. How wonderful it would be also if the God could tell them how to get rid of the itching, crawling, parasitic _plllnk_, whose bite, in sufficient numbers, was often fatal!... The God began to land. It shot red flame downward from its mouth, on the underside of its gleaming body. Red flickers and sharp-edged black shadows danced about the two who waited below. They shrank back, fearful that the display might be a disapproving communication--yet they held their ground, knowing they had lived good lives and deserved no condemnation on any score they could imagine. The God lowered, on its belching tongue of flame--the flame that seemed a tiny part, a sliver, of the Universal Eye that Watched. Strange marks were on the side of the God's body. They were: 1st MARS EXPEDITION--U. S. SPACE FORCE--PLANET-TO-SATELLITE CREWBOAT NO. 2. * * * * * The last few moments of the God's descent were quite rapid. Simultaneously, the darting red flames seemed to lessen in intensity and length. Then, at the second of impact, they brightened again to previous power--but too late. The impact was hard. Grg and Yrl gasped as one of the God's double-tentacles buckled, crumpled, with a glinting of shiny-hard material. The flames stopped. The God, unable to remain erect with its injury, slowly toppled. Its body thudded silently, stirring pumice dust. It was motionless. Grg and Yrl stared at each other. Was the God fatally injured? Dying? Dead? (For a broken tentacle meant that fluids would seep out, and soon the dry-death would occur.) The God stirred. It braced two sets of tentacles against the ground, as if trying to push itself erect. The effort was not successful. Again it was motionless. The two double-tentacles remained outstretched, however--and they pointed at the shadows where Grg and Yrl waited and watched. Grg and Yrl sighed in relief. The God had assumed conversation-position. It must have healed its broken tentacle--truly a God! Soon it would be as good as new; for otherwise, agony would forbid conversation. It was ready to address them. Now. This was the greatest moment of Grg's and Yrl's lives. They waited for the God to speak. It was silent. A long time passed. The God remained motionless, though in conversation-position, and silent. A _very_ long time passed. Then a tiny hole appeared in the God's side. It grew larger--larger--and then it stopped growing larger. Something appeared at the hole. It paused, then dropped to the surface of Phobos, where it began to crawl about. It bore considerable resemblance to a _plllnk_, except for its shiny-wrinkled grey skin (_plllnks_ were purple.) And this thing was huge--_Huge_. It was one-fifth the size of the God's body.