LITMIR.BIZ

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been interrupted in the least; their respective tasks had been performed with continuing sureness. It was time itself that Purnie had stopped, not the world around him.

      He scampered around the rockpile and down the sandy cliff to meet the tripons who, to him, had just come to life.

      “I can stand on my head!” He set down his lunch and balanced himself bottoms-up while his legs pawed the air in an effort to hold him in position. He knew it was probably the worst head-stand he had ever done, for he felt weak and dizzy. Already time-stopping had left its mark on his strength. But his spirits ran on unchecked.

      The tripon thought Purnie’s feat was superb. It stopped munching long enough to give him a salutory wag of its rump before returning to its repast.

      Purnie ran from pillar to post, trying to see and do everything at once. He looked around to greet the flock of spora, but they had glided to a spot further along the shore. Then, bouncing up to the first of the two-legged animals, he started to burst forth with his habitual “Hi there!” when he heard them making sounds of their own.

      “... will be no limit to my operations now, Benson. This planet makes seventeen. Seventeen planets I can claim as my own!”

      “My, my. Seventeen planets. And tell me, Forbes, just what the hell are you going to do with them—mount them on the wall of your den back in San Diego?”

      “Hi there, wanna play?” Purnie’s invitation got nothing more than startled glance from the animals who quickly returned to their chatter. He scampered up the beach, picked up his lunch, and ran back to them, tagging along at their heels. “I’ve got my lunch, want some?”

      “Benson, you’d better tell your men back there to stop gawking at the scenery and get to work. Time is money. I didn’t pay for this expedition just to give your flunkies a vacation.”

      *

      The animals stopped so suddenly that Purnie nearly tangled himself in their heels.

      “All right, Forbes, just hold it a minute. Listen to me. Sure, it’s your money that put us here; it’s your expedition all the way. But you hired me to get you here with the best crew on earth, and that’s just what I’ve done. My job isn’t over yet. I’m responsible for the safety of the men while we’re here, and for the safe trip home.”

      “Precisely. And since you’re responsible, get ‘em working. Tell ‘em to bring along the flag. Look at the damn fools back there, playing in the ocean with a three-legged ostrich!”

      “Good God, man, aren’t you human? We’ve only been on this planet twenty minutes! Naturally they want to look around. They half expected to find wild animals or worse, and here we are surrounded by quaint little creatures that run up to us like we’re long-lost brothers. Let the men look around a minute or two before we stake out your claim.”

      “Bah! Bunch of damn children.”

      As Purnie followed along, a leg shot out at him and missed. “Benson, will you get this bug-eyed kangaroo away from me!” Purnie shrieked with joy at this new frolic and promptly stood on his head. In this position he got an upside down view of them walking away.

      He gave up trying to stay with them. Why did they move so fast, anyway? What was the hurry? As he sat down and began eating his lunch, three more of the creatures came along making excited noises, apparently trying to catch up to the first two. As they passed him, he held out his lunch. “Want some?” No response.

      Playing held more promise than eating. He left his lunch half eaten and went down to where they had stopped further along the beach.

      “Captain Benson, sir! Miles has detected strong radiation in the vicinity. He’s trying to locate it now.”

      “There you are, Forbes. Your new piece of real estate is going to make you so rich that you can buy your next planet. That’ll make eighteen, I believe.”

      “Radiation, bah! We’ve found low-grade ore on every planet I’ve discovered so far, and this one’ll be no different. Now how about that flag? Let’s get it up, Benson. And the cornerstone, and the plaque.”

      “All right, lads. The sooner we get Mr. Forbes’s pennant raised and his claim staked out, the sooner we can take time to look around. Lively now!”

      *

      When the three animals went back to join the rest of their group, the first two resumed walking. Purnie followed along.

      “Well, Benson, you won’t have to look far for materials to use for the base of the flag pole. Look at that rockpile up there.

      “Can’t use them. They’re petrified logs. The ones on top are too high to carry down, and if we move those on the bottom, the whole works will slide down on top of us.”

      “Well—that’s your problem. Just remember, I want this flag pole to be solid. It’s got to stand at least—”

      “Don’t worry, Forbes, we’ll get your monument erected. What’s this with the flag? There must be more to staking a claim than just putting up a flag.”

      “There is, there is. Much more. I’ve taken care of all requirements set down by law to make my claim. But the flag? Well, you might say it represents an empire, Benson. The Forbes Empire. On each of my flags is the word FORBES, a symbol of development and progress. Call it sentiment if you will.”

      “Don’t worry, I won’t. I’ve seen real-estate flags before.”

      “Damn it all, will you stop referring to this as a real-estate deal? What I’m doing is big, man. Big! This is pioneering.”

      “Of course. And if I’m not mistaken, you’ve set up a neat little escrow system so that you not only own the planets, but you will virtually own the people who are foolish enough to buy land on them.”

      “I could have your hide for talking to me like this. Damn you, man! It’s people like me who pay your way. It’s people like me who give your space ships some place to go. It’s people like me who pour good money into a chancey job like this, so that people like you can get away from thirteen-story tenement houses. Did you ever think of that?”

      “I imagine you’ll triple your money in six months.”

      When they stopped, Purnie stopped. At first he had been interested in the strange sounds they were making, but as he grew used to them, and as they in turn ignored his presence, he hopped alongside chattering to himself, content to be in their company.

      He heard more of these sounds coming from behind, and he turned to see the remainder of the group running toward them.

      “Captain Benson! Here’s the flag, sir. And here’s Miles with the scintillometer. He says the radiation’s getting stronger over this way!”

      “How about that, Miles?”

      “This thing’s going wild, Captain. It’s almost off scale.”

      *

      Purnie saw one of the animals hovering around him with a little box. Thankful for the attention, he stood on his head. “Can you do this?” He was overjoyed at the reaction. They all started making wonderful noises, and he felt most satisfied.

      “Stand back, Captain! Here’s the source right here! This little chuck-walla’s hotter than a plutonium pile!”

      “Let me see that, Miles. Well, I’ll be damned! Now what do you suppose—”

      By now they had formed a widening circle around him, and he was hard put to think of an encore. He gambled on trying a brand new trick: he stood on one leg.

      “Benson, I must have that animal! Put him in a box.”

      “Now wait a minute, Forbes. Universal Law forbids—”

      “This is my planet and I am the law. Put him in a box!”

      “With my crew as witness, I officially protest—”

      “Good

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