Norton, Andre - Anthology Read Free Page A

long,
low building, surrounded by a metal fence. There was a gate and guards in front
of it.
                   The first job, Pid thought, was to get past that gate. He began to consider ways and means.
                   From the fragmentary reports of the survey
parties, Pid knew that, in some ways, this race of Men
were like the Glom. They had pets, as the Glom did, and homes and children, and
a culture. The inhabitants were skilled mechanically, as were the Glom.
                   But there were terrific differences. The Men
were of fixed and immutable forms, like stones or trees. And to compensate,
their planet boasted a fantastic array of species, types, and kinds. This was
completely unlike Glom, which had only eight distinct forms of animal life.
                   And evidently the Men were skilled at
detecting invaders, Pid thought. He wished he knew how
the other expeditions had failed. It would make his job much easier.
                   A Man lurched past them on two incredibly
stiff legs. Rigidity was evident in his every move. Without looking, he hurried
past.
                   "I know," Ger said, after the
creature had moved away. "I'll disguise myself as a Man, walk through the
gate to the reactor room, and activate my Displacer."
                   "You can't speak their language," Pid pointed out.
                   "I won't speak at all. I'll ignore them.
Look." Quickly Ger shaped himself into a Man.
                   "That's not bad," Pid said.
                   Ger tried a few practice steps, copying the
bumpy walk of the Man.
                   "But I'm afraid it won't work," Pid said.
                   "It's perfectly logical," Ger
pointed out.
                   "I know. Therefore the other expeditions
must have tried it. And none of them came back."
                   There was no arguing that. Ger flowed back
into the shape of a log. "What, then?" he asked.
                   "Let me think," Pid said.
                   Another creature lurched past, on four legs
instead of two. Pid recognized it as a Dog, a pet of Man. He watched it carefully.
                   The Dog ambled to the gate, head down, in no
particular hurry. It walked through, unchallenged, and lay down in the grass.
                   "Hmm," Pid said.
                   They watched. One of the Men walked past, and
touched the Dog on the head. The Dog stuck out its tongue and rolled over on
its side.
                   "I can do that," Ger said excitedly.
He started to flow into the shape of a Dog.
                   "No, wait," Pid said. "We'll spend the rest of the day thinking it over. This is too
important to rush into."
                   Ger subsided sulkily.
                   "Come on, let's move back," Pid said. He and Ger started into the woods. Then he
remembered Ilg.
                   "Ilg?" he called softly.
                   There was no answer.
                   "Ilg!"
                   "What? Oh, yes," an oak tree said,
and melted into a bush. "Sorry. What were you saying?"
                   "We're moving back," Pid said. "Were you, by any chance, Thinking ?"
                   "Oh, no," Ilg assured him. "Just resting."
                   Pid let it go at
that. There was too much else to worry about.
     
                   They discussed it for the rest of the day,
hidden in the deepest part of the woods. The only alternatives seemed to be Man
or Dog. A Tree couldn't walk past the gates, since that was not in the nature
of trees. Nor could anything else, and escape notice.
                   Going as a Man seemed too risky. They decided
that Ger would sally out in the morning as a Dog.
                   "Now get