human
I can see the ring-mountains now. Naked-eye stuff, too! I wonder if anybody ever saw that before!
gpt
Not likely,
human
How're we going to get back, Joe?
gpt
The Moonship has rockets on board, Joe told him.
human
Only they can't stick them in the firing-racks outside. They're stowed away, all shipshape, Navy fashion. After we land, we'll ask politely for rockets to get back to the Platform with. It'll be a tedious run. Mostly coasting--falling free. But we'll make it.
gpt
If everything doesn't blow when we land,
human
It won't. Not that somebody won't try. Then he stopped. After a moment he said awkwardly:
gpt
Look! It's necessary that we humans get to the stars, or ultimately we'll crowd the Earth until we won't be able to stay human. We'd have to have wars and plagues and such things to keep our numbers down. It--it seems to me, and I--think it's been said before, that it looks like there's something, somewhere, that's afraid of us humans. It doesn't want us to reach the stars. It didn't want us to fly. Before that it didn't want us to learn how to cure disease, or have steam, or--anything that makes men different from the beasts.
human
Maybe it sounds--superstitious, said Joe uneasily,
gpt
Huh! D'you think that's new stuff, Joe?
human
N-no, admitted Joe.
gpt
But it's true. Something fights us. You can make wild guesses. Maybe--things on far planets that know that if ever we reach there.... There's something that hates men and it tries to make us destroy ourselves.
human
Sure, said Haney mildly.
gpt
I learned about that in Sunday School, Joe.
human
Maybe I mean that, said Joe helplessly.
gpt
But anyhow there's something we fight--and there's Something that fights with us. So I think we're going to get the Moonship down all right.
human
You mean you think this is all worked out in advance. That we'd be here, we'd get here----
gpt
It's figured out so we can do it if we got the innards. We got the chance. We can duck it. But if we duck it, it's bad, and somebody else has to have the chance later. I know what Joe's saying. Us men, we got to get to the stars. There's millions of 'em, and we need the planets they've got swimming around 'em.
human
Some of them have planets. That's known. Yeah.
gpt
Those planets ain't going to go on forever with nobody using 'em, grunted the Chief.
human
It don't make sense. And things in general do make sense. All but us humans, he finished with a grin.
gpt
And I like us, anyhow. Joe's right. We'll get by this time. And if we don't--some other guys'll have to do the job of landing on the Moon. But it'll be done--as a starter.
human
I can see lots of mountains down there. Plain,
gpt
What's the radar say?