"Let me see that, Miles. Well, I'll be damned! Now what do you suppose—"
By now they had formed a widening circle around him, and he was hard put to think of an encore. He gambled on trying a brand new trick: he stood on one leg.
"Benson, I must have that animal! Put him in a box."
"Now wait a minute, Forbes. Universal Law forbids—"
"This is my planet and I am the law. Put him in a box!"
"With my crew as witness, I officially protest—"
"Good God, what a specimen to take back. Radio-active animals! Why, they can reproduce themselves, of course! There must be thousands of these creatures around here someplace. And to think of those damn fools on Earth with their plutonium piles! Hah! Now I'll have investors flocking to me. How about it, Benson—does pioneering pay off or doesn't it?"
"Not so fast. Since this little fellow is radioactive, there may be great danger to the crew—"
"Now look here! You had planned to put mineral specimens in a lead box, so what's the difference? Put him in a box."
"He'll die."