The hell with it! He'd work on the plates now.
He began to whistle, shrilly and off-key. He always whistled when his lust for adventure was about to be satisfied. Neptune, defiance of the fleet admiral, a dead radio and blown gravity plates ... an impetuous dream-girl ... these added up to adventure.
Tomorrow he'd go over the hill and see what was on the other side.
A city was on the other side. A good-sized city. No more than a mile away. Darrel glanced back at the ship from the hilltop, shrugged and turned toward the city.
When he reached it he found a nightmare world.
These Neptunians were all crazy. Disregarding every natural law, they dashed about the streets backward. Every last one of them. And they stared at him as though he were a freak!
He stopped at a corner to collect his senses. Vehicles milled and rushed—backwards. At high velocities they slammed up and down the streets in reverse, a steady stream, in all directions ... and without a mishap! Not a one of the lunatics had an accident!
He leaned dizzily against a metal post.
To steady himself he shifted his glance to immovable objects, to stationary things, to buildings. They behaved rationally. They didn't do things backwards. They didn't do anything but stand there, solid, substantial and sane.