human
Base all your thinking on that, Johnny. If that seems like leaning over backwards, it's only a sample of how careful we've got to be, how many angles we've got to figure.
gpt
Hell, said the pilot.
human
I know all that. I was just ribbing the bat-snatcher here. He thumbed a cigarette out of his tunic, touched his lighter to it. He frowned, stared at the lighter, tried it again.
gpt
It doesn't work. _Damn_ it! he barked explosively,
human
I don't like things that don't work!
gpt
Here's a light. Take it easy, Johnny! A bum lighter's not that important.
human
It doesn't work, he muttered.
gpt
Guaranteed, too. When we get back I'm going to feed it to Supply.
human
Heh! Ives' heavy voice came from the communications desk.
gpt
Maybe the natives are primitives, at that. Not a whisper of any radio on any band. No powerline fields, either. These are plowboys, for sure.
human
Imagine that. No video or trideo. No jet-races or feelies. What do people do with their time in a place like this?
gpt
Books, said Hoskins, almost absently.
human
Chess. Conversation.
gpt
I don't know what chess is, and conversation's great if you want to tell somebody something, like 'bring me a steak', said Johnny.
human
Let's get out of this fire-trap,
gpt
In time, said the Captain.
human
Ives, DX those radio frequencies. If there's so much as a smell of radiation even from the other side of this planet, we want to know about it. Hoskins, check the landing-suits--food, water, oxygen, radio, everything. Earth-type planet or no, we're not fooling with alien viruses. Johnny, I want you to survey this valley in every way you can and plot a minimum of three take-off vectors.