“We can hope for a high percentage of survivals,” Kimber continued. “Lui’s box had the special controls-that may have been the trouble, But out of four, three ff us are all right. Kordov—”
“Yes- and what does Kordov do?” asked the hearty voice behind them.
The stocky First Scientist elbowed his way between the two swinging seats and handed the occupant of each a round plastic bulb from which a tube projected. He cradled a third in his own hand as he settled in the other chair.
“Kordov,” he answered his own question, “continues to see after your puny bodies, my friends. And you should be glad of his personal interest in them. You will now consume what you hold in your paws and be thankful!” He inserted the bulb tube in his mouth and took a smacking suck.
Dard discovered that he had to drink the same warm salty stuff that had been given to him on his first awakening. And it satisfied him completely. But he only took one.experimental drag before he demanded:
“I heard about Lui. How many others?”
Tas Kordov wiped his mouth with the back of his square hand.
“That we can not tell. We dare not investigate the boxes too closely until a landing has been made. Yes; all of us want an answer to that question, young man. How many-? We can hope that most came through. I propose to open two more from the crews’ quarters-there are men in them whose skills we need. But-for the rest-their slumbers must continue until we have the new world to offer them. And that too,” he waved at the visa-screen,” presents problems. We have found the proper sort of sun. But remember Sol had nine planets, on only one of which mankind could live at ease: Here are three planets-perhaps a Mars, a Venus, a Mercury, and no Terra. Which one do you think we should try, Sim?”
The pilot drank before he replied. “Judging by the charted orbits, I’ll settle for the middle one. It’s closer to Sol II than Terra was to Sol I, hut it has the nearest approach to a Terran orbit.”
“I don’t knew anything about astronomy,” Dard ventured.”You expect this sun to produce an earth-type planet because it is a ’yellow’ one, but if one of those three worlds is another Terra-what about intelligent life on it? Couldn’t the same general conditions have produced the same type of dominant life form?”