Adams nodded. "No food, no air. It was the logical conclusion for anyone to draw."
Sutton shook his head. "Anderson is wrong. If I weren't human, you never would have seen me. I would not have come back at all. But I was homesick for Earth and you were expecting a report."
"You took your time," Adams accused him.
"I had to be sure," Sutton told him. "I had to know, you see. I had to be able to come back and tell you one thing or another. I had to tell you if the Cygnians were dangerous or if they weren't."
"And which is it?"
"They aren't dangerous," said Sutton.
Adams waited and Sutton sat silently.
Finally Adams said, "And that is all?"
"That is all," said Sutton.
Adams tapped his teeth with the bit of his pipe. "I'd hate to have to send another man out to check up," he said. "Especially after I had told everyone you'd bring back all the dope."