With a shotgun the farmer couldn't do much, but a lucky shot might put a wheel out of commission. The robot wouldn't like that.
"I can't make the farmer open his eyes. The saucer put him to sleep and I can't touch his mind."
The saucers had a good brand of hypnotism, if that's what it was. We knew they had space travel, and now it was evident that they were equally advanced in other ways.
"Use your judgment," I told the ship. "Hold it as long as you can and then pretend to go out into space, or forward in time. Anything that will look good."
I needed time. I could have dematerialized where I stood, and rematerialized inside the saucer. But if I did, I would have to leave most of my supplies behind. A short journey, I had said. And that was true—short as far as interstellar distances were concerned. But it would be long by normal methods of reckoning, and I had to live through it. I couldn't abandon my supplies.
I succeeded in transporting all the food to a place just outside the large saucer before our ship disappeared. It didn't go out into space, nor into time as I expected. Instead it sank rapidly into the ground, and left no hole behind. This, I think, confused the robot. I heard it thrashing around in the cornfield, possibly in bewilderment.
I gathered some of the containers and carried them inside the saucer. It was lighted all right, and the lighting scheme was as weird as the interior. They used the spectrum below the red, and above the violet. Why this should be so I don't know. I merely report what I found. Apparently they didn't react to what we consider visible light.
I adjusted my eyes.
I found an empty space which I assumed was for the storage of specimens. I put my food in there. Outside I went for more, and then back again. I repeated my trips until everything was loaded. Unpalatable food, of course, concentrated and not tasty, but it would last until I stepped out on the planet at the opposite end. After that there would be other problems.
I went outside for the last communication with my fellows. The ship I could examine later. I looked around. The control tower and disembarkation structure were still visible, though they were wavering in the dim light.