Zip turned his head to the side to read the titles of some of the books. He saw _The Complete Works of William Shakespeare_; _Kon Tiki_ by Thor Heyerdahl; _Homer’s Odyssey_; and several advanced textbooks on mineralogy, metallurgy, engineering, and electronics. Zip’s eyebrows lifted. He was impressed. Mark was looking at the books on the other wall. _Basic Watercolor_, he read. _The Stories of Edgar Allen Poe_ was next to _The Life of Johann Sebastian Bach_. Mark whistled. “Not what I expected, Mr. Vly,” he said. “Not at all what I expected.” “Uh huh,” murmured Montezuma Vly. “Let’s get down to business. Follow me.” He squeezed past Zip in the crowded little workplace, passed through a narrow door on the other side of the room, and through a passageway. The Starmen followed. A small furry shape leaped through the air in front of Joe. “Ack!” exclaimed the lanky Starman, stumbling backward, knocking over a couple of small boxes as his arms flailed. Nuts and bolts scattered on the floor. Joe backed into another box and sat down hard on it. “What--?” exclaimed Vly, turning. “What was that?” cried Joe. “Something jumped across the corridor. I think it went into this recess here.” He pointed to an opening between a few stacked boxes. “One of my koalangs,” answered Montezuma. “I’ve got four of them here. There are a few more in the living quarters. Good company. They can startle you, though, and they can make an awful mess. More than once I’ve threatened to make stew out of ’em and eat ’em for dinner.” The Starmen looked at one another, wondering if he was joking. His next action showed that he was. “Come on, Howard,” said Montezuma gently, bending over and calling into the dark place where the koalang had hidden. “They won’t hurt you. I know you’re not used to company, but no one’s gonna hurt you. Come on out. That’s it, come on.” He reached in gently and drew a small creature out of the darkness. It had a small furry face with large, frightened eyes, and snuggled up against the miner. Its fur was caramel and white. He folded it into his chest and covered it gently with both hands. He crooned to it lovingly for a moment or two, then said, “That’s right. You’re okay. Go play.” Then he added with mock fierceness, “Just stay out of the paint!” He set it down and turned back to the door at the end of the corridor. “In here,” he directed, leading the way into the room beyond. 4: Sabbath George THE ROOM was smaller than the Starmen had anticipated. Its small size was accentuated by being packed to the ceiling with a variety of items. Hand tools identical to those used by rock hounds for centuries lay on tables and on shelves. Stacks of paper, most of which showed signs of being bound by hand, covered much of the remaining space. On one shelf was a large, clear sphere on an ornately shaped stand. The eyes of all three Starmen were drawn to it. “Have a seat,” offered their host.