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The other person in the Med Ship displayed the same symptoms, in prompt and complete repetition, without physical contact." He went to sleep, with Murgatroyd curled up in his cubbyhole. The Med Ship broke out of overdrive at 1300 hours, ship time. Calhoun made contact with the grid and was promptly lowered to the ground.
We should arrive at a landing position in something under four hours. Repeat. Med Ship Aesclipus Twenty ..." He finished the regular second transmission and made coffee for himself while he waited for an answer. Murgatroyd wanted a cup of coffee too. Murgatroyd adored coffee. He held a tiny cup in a furry small paw and sipped gingerly at the hot liquid. A voice came out of the communicator;
We're looking for a particular one. It must have been formed naturally at some time or another, but never before has it appeared in quantity enough to threaten a civilization. Why?" Murgatroyd licked his right-hand whiskers. He whimpered a little and Murgatroyd was a very cheerful small animal, possessed of exuberant health and a fine zest in simply being alive.
The sun Weald burned huge and terrible in space. It was close, now. Its disk covered half a degree of arc. "Very neat," observed Calhoun. "Weald Three is our port, Murgatroyd. The plane of the ecliptic would be ... Hm...." He swung the outside electron telescope, picked up a nearby bright object, enlarged its image to show details, and checked it against the local star-pilot.
A sort of mental nausea seized her as she dressed for her solitary dinner. For whom was she changing her gown? For Murgatroyd! How grotesque the unwritten regulations of a life like hers were! Why go down to dinner at all? She had no appetite. Nevertheless, everything was done in due order. Her hair was arranged. Cecile looked at her critically to see that everything was right. For Murgatroyd!
So they sat at the centre table, Myra in Miss Murgatroyd's place, and Jim in Susie's, and consumed their bread-and-cheese, and drank their beer, with huge appetites and prodigious enjoyment. And Jim used Miss Susannah's napkin, and pretended to be sentimental over it. And Myra reproved him, after the manner of Miss Murgatroyd reproving Susie.
"Nothing to be alarmed about I'm out of that line, now no papers of that sort tonight. I've a bit of business I can put in your hands profitable business. Look here! have you got a quarter of an hour to spare?" Murgatroyd, who looked greatly relieved to find that his visitor had neither writ nor summons for him, glanced at his parlour door.
In some ships it lasted for minutes only. In others it went on for half an hour or more. Then they hung overhead, but did not reply to calls. Calhoun arrived at the spaceport with Murgatroyd riding on his shoulder. A bewildered officer in a sag-suit halted him. "I've come," said Calhoun, "to speak to the admiral.
Murgatroyd said "Chee!" in a subdued voice. "But where the devil did they put them?" demanded Calhoun. "A polar orbit would be ridiculous! They " Then he grunted in disgust. "Oh! Of course! Now, where's the landing-grid?"
Perhaps he, the old man, would be unwanted, would only be in the way if he went in. But it was not his habit to recoil from anything and, after a moment of uneasy waiting, he put his hand to the bell. Murgatroyd opened the door. "Good day, Murgatroyd. Is her Ladyship at home?" "Yes, Sir Seymour." He stepped into the hall, left his hat, coat and stick, and prepared to go upstairs.
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