"The thing to do," Hellman said briskly, "is to make a qualitative analysis on four or five samples. We could start out with a simple titration, sublimate the chief ingredient, see if it forms a precipitate, work out its molecular makeup from—"
"Hellman, you don't know what you're talking about. You're a librarian, remember? And I'm a correspondence school pilot. We don't know anything about titrations and sublimations."
"I know," Hellman said, "but we should. It's the right way to go about it."
"Sure. In the meantime, though, just until a chemist drops in, what'll we do?"
"This might help us," Hellman said, holding up the book. "Do you know what it is?"
"No," Casker said, keeping a tight grip on his patience.
"It's a pocket dictionary and guide to the Helg language."
"Helg?"
"The planet we're on. The symbols match up with those on the boxes."
Casker raised an eyebrow. "Never heard of Helg."