neat rows for as far as they could see. From small one passenger jobs to deadly battle cruisers they were taking off and landing by the hundreds.

"There aren't that many ships in the universe," O'Dea mumbled, dazed. "And millions of Centaurs! Of all the places we could have landed—"

He felt a polite prodding in his spine.

"Please to walk, our charming brothers of Earth!" came Morguma's voice. "It is with pleasure I will explain to you when we reach our destination."

Their destination was a sprawling building set in the noisy center of the rocket base. They were marched into a room where a gigantic Centaur sat shouting orders to lesser ones. Among the Centaurs, size was synonymous with rank. In this civilization so alien to human thought, the largest creature was king, though he should be only an idiot mentally!

O'Dea listened, bored, while Morguma explained in his native language to his chief. The leader stared in surprise at the two humans, then his mood suddenly became ecstatic. He spoke swiftly to Morguma, who turned to the men.

"Oh you fortunate people! It is your remarkable luck to be the first humans to inhabit this planet we create for our brothers of the solar system!"

"What's this all about?" Hawthorne growled.

Morguma waved several arms and translated the remarks of his chief:

"We were so devastated to have a misunderstanding with your wonderful people! We are so sorry not to associate with you that we are preparing this planet for human beings to inhabit!"

O'Dea and Hawthorne stared at each other.

"Like you people of Earth." Morguma went on, "we too have an asteroid belt in our system. And in our asteroids are included many delightful pieces of frozen oxygen, nitrogen, water and other ravishingly beautiful elements that gladden the heart of a human. We are bringing these life-giving substances to this planet, Avignon!"

"I told you!" said O'Dea. "My memory didn't fail me! Paul, maybe these two-legged crocodiles aren't so bad after all—creating a planet for us—"

"When this pleasant operation is concluded," said Morguma, "we will bring humans to this planet. They will have children, whom we 

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