Sthalor shrugged uneasily. "Who can say? This is a strange planet. Our standards of true and false, possible and impossible, do not apply here."
The inter-ship communicator buzzed. It was Rhondu again.
"Commander, I'm afraid we won't be able to use the parts after all. They don't fit. The specifications are all wrong. They look all right, but—" With a hastily muttered excuse, Rhondu broke off. A short time later his voice returned.
"I'm sorry, Commander, there must have been a mistake. My men just checked the parts again—and they're all right. It's very strange, though. Everything seemed to blur, and then ... well, the parts were correct—down to the last detail."
Thettumir and Kasthel stared at each other. Kasthel said, "The grass ... the trees...." Thettumir nodded somberly, his broad face tightening.
Within ensuing seconds, audio beam calls came from the other ships. Their engineers announced their replacements also to be incorrect specifications—only later puzzledly to contradict themselves. The repairs now went on without interruption.
Thettumir was thoughtful. If materials appeared from the very air merely by thinking about them, or wishing for them, perhaps.... He whirled abruptly to Kasthel and Sthalor.
"Look—consciously or unconsciously, we wished for those supplies. We got them. Now if we were to wish for other things—"
"Of course!" Sthalor exclaimed. "We should have thought of that before."
"Come, we will give it a test." Thettumir led the way hurriedly from the ship. Outside he said, "Now—what shall we wish for?"