He struggled out of his chair. And Johnny Simms' pleasure evaporated
abruptly. He swore nastily, viciously, at something outside the ship.
His wife touched his arm and spoke to him in a low tone. He turned
furiously upon her, mouthing foulnesses.
Cochrane was formidably beside him, and Johnny Simms' expression of fury
smoothed out instantly. He looked pleasant and amiable.
"The fight stopped," he explained offhandedly. "It was a good fight. But
one of the creatures wouldn't stay and take his licking."
Alicia said steadily:
"There were some animals there. They looked rather like bears, only they
had enormous ears."
Cochrane looked at Johnny Simms with hot eyes. It was absurd to be so
chivalrous, perhaps, but he was enraged. After an instant he turned away
and went to the port. The burned-over area was now only ashes. At its
edge, charcoal showed. And now he could see trees and brushwood on
beyond. The trees did not seem strange, because no trees would have
seemed familiar. The brush did not impress him as exotic, because his
experience with actual plants was restricted to the artificial plants on
television sets and the artificially arranged plants on rooftops.
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