Crashlander   ::   Нивен Ларри

The enclosure was dark until the door closed behind us. Then the light came on. It was sourceless, the color of normal sunlight, and it illuminated a cubicle that was bare and square. The only furnishing was a transparent hemisphere with an Outsider resting inside. Presumably the hemisphere filtered out excess light going in.

«Welcome,» said the room. Whatever the Outsider had said was not sonic in nature. «The air is breathable. Take off your helmets, suits, shoes, girdles, and whatnot.» It was an excellent translator, with a good grasp of idiom and a pleasant baritone voice.

«Thanks,» said Elephant, and we did.

«Which of you is Gregory Pelton?»

«Gronk.»

The wall was not confused. «According to your agent, you want to know how to reach that planet which is most unusual inside or within five miles of the sixty-light-year wide region you call known space. Is this correct?»

«Yes.»

«We must know if you plan to go there or to send agents there. Also, do you plan a landing, a near orbit, or a distant orbit?»

«Landing.»

«Are we to guard against danger to your life?»

«No.» Elephant's voice was a little dry. The Outsider ship was an intimidating place.

«What kind of ship would you use?»

«The one outside.»

«Do you plan colonization? Mining? Growth of food plants?»

«I plan only one visit.»

«We have selected a world for you. The price will be one million stars.»

«That's high,» said Elephant. I whistled under my breath. It was, and it wouldn't get lower. The Outsiders never dickered.

«Sold,» said Elephant.

The translator gave us a triplet set of coordinates some twenty-four light-years from Earth along galactic north. «The star you are looking for is a protosun with one planet a billion and a half miles distant. The system is moving at a point eight lights toward — «He gave a vector direction. It seemed the protosun was drawing a shallow chord through known space; it would never approach human space.

«No good,» said Elephant. «No hyperdrive ship can go that fast in real space.»

«You could hitch a ride,» said the translator, «with us. Moor your ship to our drive capsule.»

«That'll work,» said Elephant. He was getting more and more uneasy; his eyes seemed to be searching the walls for the source of the voice. He would not look at the Outsider business agent in the vacuum chamber.

«Our ferry fee will be one million stars.»

Elephant sputtered.