He even maintained course, following the extrapolated line to the point on the northern continent toward which they were headed. Under other circumstances, with a shade more luck, the story would eventually have been told and retold as a heroic and masterly reversal of a lost situation. But within sight of victory, tired body and tired nerves clamped a control bar with a shade too much pressure. The ship, which had almost levelled off, dipped down again. There was no room to retrieve the final error. There was only a mile left to fall. The Pilot remained at his post to the actual landing, his only thought that of breaking the force of the crash, of maintaining the spaceworthiness of the vessel. He did not survive. With the ship bucking madly in a soupy atmosphere, few Ejectors could be mobilized and only one of them in time. When afterwards, the Explorer lifted out of unconsciousness and rose to his feet, he had the definite feeling that but for himself and the Merchant, there were no survivors. And perhaps that was an over-calculation. His Floater had burnt out while still sufficiently distant from surface to have the fall stun him. The Merchant might have had less luck, even, than that. He was surrounded by a world of thick, ropy stalks of grass, and in the distance were trees that reminded him vaguely of similar structures on his native Arcturian world except that their lowest branches were high above what he would consider normal tree-tops. He called, his voice sounding basso in the thick air and the Merchant answered. The Explorer made his way toward him, thrusting violently at the coarse stalks that barred his path. "Are you hurt?" he asked. The Merchant grimaced. "I've sprained something. It hurts to walk." The Explorer probed gently. "I don't think anything is broken. You'll have to walk despite the pain." "Can't we rest first?" "It's important to try to find the ship. If it is spaceworthy or if it can be repaired, we may live. Otherwise, we won't." "Just a few minutes. Let me catch my breath." The Explorer was glad enough for those few minutes. The Merchant's eyes were already closed. He allowed his to do the same. He heard the trampling and his eyes snapped open. Never sleep on a strange planet, he told himself futilely. The Merchant was awake too and his steady screaming was a rumble of terror. The Explorer called, "It's only a native of this planet. It won't harm you." But even as he spoke, the giant had swooped down and in a moment they were in its grasp being lifted closer to its monstrous ugliness. The Merchant struggled violently and, of course, quite futilely. "Can't you talk to it?" he yelled. The Explorer could only shake his head. "I can't reach it with the Projector. It won't be listening." "Then blast it. Blast it down." "We can't do that." The phrase "you fool" had almost been added. The Explorer struggled to keep his self-control. They were swallowing space as the monster moved purposefully away.