Alicia smiled at him and went away. There was still the
mark of a bruise on her cheek. She went down to where her husband needed
her. Holden said dourly:
"This world's useless. So is her husband."
"Wait till we check the air," said Cochrane absently.
"I've checked it," Holden told him indifferently. "I went in the port
and sniffed at the cracked outer door. I didn't die, so I opened the
door. There is a smell of stone. That's all. The air's perfectly
breathable. The ocean's probably absorbed all soluble gases, and
poisonous gases are soluble. If they weren't, they couldn't be
poisonous."
"Mmmmmm," said Cochrane thoughtfully.
Jamison came over to him.
"We're not going to stay here, are we?" he asked. "I don't like to look
at it. The moon's bad enough, but at least nothing could live there!
Anything could live here. But it doesn't! I don't like it!"
"We'll stay here at least while Johnny has a nap. I do want Bell to take
all the pictures he can, though. Probably not for broadcast, but for
business reasons. I'll need pictures to back up a deal."
Jamison went away. Holden said without interest:
"You'll make no deals with this planet! This is one you can do what you
like with! I don't want any part of it!"
Cochrane shrugged.
Pages:
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291