Then the ship spun crazily, out of control, toward the surface.
'An old cruiser hull is right over that ridge,' the pilot told the senator. 'It's in pretty good condition, but the nose was driven into the ground by the impact of its fall, wedged tight into the rock, so that all hell and high water couldn't move it.'
'Earthian or Marshy?' asked Gramp.
The pilot shook his head. Tm not sure,' he said. 'Earth, I think.'
The senator was struggling into his space suit.
'You remember the deal we made?' he asked the pilot. 'You're to say your ship broke down. You'll know how to explain it. So you couldn't get me back in time to make the speech.'
The pilot grinned. 'Sure do, senator,' he said.
Gramp paused with his helmet poised above his head. 'Senator!' he shouted.
He looked at the senator.
'Just who in tarnation are you?' he asked.