Woman's touch

By EVELYN E. SMITH
illustrated by EMSH
The orders were to leave the natives of the new planet strictly alone. But those surveyors' wives were women, and women don't obey orders—or leave people alone!
Now, don't get the idea that this is a universe-shaking assignment, Captain Harnick warned the four young people. The planet's of no particular importance; otherwise we would never have assigned an untried team.
Yessir, Ned McComb and Danny Field said dutifully. However, Harnick wasn't worried about them; it was the anticipatory gleam in their wives' eyes that he didn't like. Pity the men had to be allowed to take their spouses along, but the Extrasolar Survey Service would never be able to get anyone to accept a five-year term of duty on a remote planet without that accommodation. And, of course, he thought with sour complacence, at the end of the five years the men would be even sorrier than he was.
True, it's an Earth-type planet, but only in the sense that it has an atmosphere we can breathe.... And, I repeat, he added, looking straight into Judy Field's snapping black eyes, please remember that we have no intention of colonizing Furbish. It's much too far from the other inhabited systems for such a project to be economically sound.
Yessir, Judy said meekly. We just want to set up a fueling and repair station here....
... and maybe look over the minerals, Jane McComb finished, to see if there's anything which could be used in running the station and/or worth transporting to other systems.
Er—yes. Captain Harnick was gratified to see that his lectures during the voyage had not fallen upon deaf ears; on the other hand, he was not exactly pleased to have words taken out of his mouth. We would like to have the planet charted as thoroughly as possible, of course, but please do not try to go beyond the scope of your admittedly limited means.
Yessir, Ned and Dan agreed.
Now comes the part about the natives, Judy said to Jane in what might have been intended as a whisper. They nodded at each other.