XVII HOTCAKES FOR BREAKFAST
THE CITY MOTHEB was standing near the door of t Astarte, underneath the starboard wing. Two of her people: were working at the door, using bladders to squirt some
liquid around the edges. The translucent layer over the hull melted away wherever the liquid touched it. They grasped a free edge of the skin stuff and began to peel it away. "Look at that," said Tex. "Do you see what they've done? The ship is Venusized."
His use of the term was loose; an item that has been "planetized" is one that has been rendered stable against certain typical conditions of the planet concerned, as defined by tests of the Bureau of Standards-for example, an item listed in the colonial edition of the Sears & Montgomery catalog as "Venusized" is thereby warranted to resist the excessive humidity, the exotic fungi, and certain of the planet's pests. The Astarte was merely encased in a sheath. '
"Looks like it," agreed Oscar, his voice carefully restrained. "Sort of a spray-gun job."
"Five gets you ten it never saw a spray gun. The Venerians did it" Tex slapped at an insect. "You know what this means, Oz?"
"I'm way ahead of you. Don't get your hopes up. And don't try to get mine up, either. A hundred years is a long tune."
"Oz, you don't get any fun out of life."
The little workers were having difficulties. The top of the door was much higher than they could reach; they were now trying to form two-high pyramids, but, having no shoulders to speak of, they were hardly built for the job. Matt said to Oscar, "Couldn't we give them a hand with that?"
"I'll see." Oscar went forward and suggested that the cadets take over the job of squirting on the solvent. The mother person looked at him,