there were banquets and more banquets, and women of every size and shape. the city of new calleth went all out to welcome the space travellers. bobby galus and gary dale.

at the end of a week of festivity, the mayor came to cal and dave.

"have you enjoyed your stay, boys?" he asked.

"it was swell," cal said, "but you've got things all...."

"i was wondering when you planned on leaving for the capitol. don't misunderstand me. we'd like you to stay as long as you want to, but...."

"for god's sake," cal snapped, "will you please listen to me?"

mayor panley was visibly shaken. "why, of course, captain galus. of course. why, certainly."

he lapsed into silence.

"i'm not bobby galus," cal said. "and this isn't gary dale."

the mayor nodded his head. "you're ... not ... galus and dale," he said slowly.

"that's right," cal said. "we didn't go to earth. we came from there. this is the first time we've ever been on mars. do you understand? we're earthmen."

"earthmen?" the mayor considered this for a second and then burst out laughing. "why, that's preposterous. absolutely preposterous!" his laugh rose in volume to a bellow. "oh, you're joking. i should have known. you're only joking."

"we're not joking. this is all some kind of a horrible mistake. we're the first men to land on mars. you've got to understand that," dave pleaded.

the mayor was still laughing. he walked to the door and opened it. "all right, boys, have your little joke. you've earned the right to it. i'll make arrangements for you to leave for dome city in the morning." he shook his head and chuckled again. "earthmen. tch-tch." and then he was gone.

they sat alone in the hotel room. it looked like any earth hotel they'd ever been in. a big soft bed. a wall telephone. two dressers. two armchairs. a big mirror over one of the dressers. a television set on the other dresser.

"this is screwy," dave said. "is it possible we're back on earth? is it possible the joke is on us? maybe everyone is just ribbing us. maybe we've been going around in circles for four years. maybe...."

"no," cal said. "we're on mars all right. i don't know exactly how to explain it, but i've got an idea."

"what's that?" dave asked.

cal shrugged. "probably all wrong, of course. but it has something to do with comparable development of cultures on different planets."

"you mean mars is in exactly the same state of development as earth?"

"something like that. you know the theory. give two different places the same materials to start with, and their cultures will run parallel to each other for the rest of their existence."

"sure," dave said. "but these guys galus and dale. how the hell could we possibly be mistaken for them?"

"i don't know." cal leaned back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. "maybe we'll find out in dome city."

"maybe," dave repeated hollowly.