the president of the planet greeted their ship in dome city. there were more parades, banners, bands, banquets, reporters, cameras, confetti, women, speeches, presentations.

and at last, they stood before the president's desk, two bodyguards standing on either side of him. he was a thin man, slightly balding, with rimless glasses.

"gentlemen," he said, "i don't have to tell you how pleased i am."

cal took a deep breath. "we've been trying to tell mayor panley," he said, "that we are not galus and dale."

the president smiled. "i know. he told me of your little joke."

"it's not a joke."

the president cocked an eyebrow. "no?" he looked at his bodyguards. "has space affec ... did you feel any ill effects in space?" he asked.

cal grimaced. "oh great! now he thinks we're psycho. look, can't you get this through your heads? we are from earth. we never heard of galus and dale. my name is calvin manners, and this is david langley."

"very interesting," the president said. he tapped his finger on the back of his other hand and stared at the two earthmen.

he reached over toward the intercom on his desk then and pressed a button.

"yes?" a woman's voice asked.

"miss daniels, will you bring in the photos of capt. galus and lt. dale, please?"

"yes, sir."

the president turned to the two men again. "those are your ranks, are they not?"

"yes, but we're in the united states army."

"the what?"

"the united states army. the united states is a country on earth."

"really? now we're getting somewhere. what else does earth have? what is it like? are the inhabitants intelligent?"

"yes, we are. we're earthmen, can't you understand that?"

"i think you're carrying this joke a little too far, gentlemen. a joke is a joke, but we've spent millions of dollars on your trip. really, this is no time for banter."

cal opened his mouth, ready to protest, just as the outside door swung wide. an attractive blonde in a smart suit stepped into the room and walked to the president's desk. she kept her eyes glued to the two earthmen, dropped two large photographs on the desk, and turned. she stared over her shoulder at cal and dave until she was gone.

the president smiled knowingly. "the women are falling all over you two, i imagine."

"we're both married," cal said drily. "we don't care for all this...."

"married?" the president was shocked. "i thought we'd distinctly chosen unmarried men for the job. strange."

"we've got wives on earth," dave said.

"ah-ha," the president said. "then they are intelligent beings. pity, pity."

a twinge of anticipation curled up cal's spine. "pity? why a pity? why do you say that?"

"well, you know. surely you realized this was the only flight we could afford."

"what?"

"for the meantime, anyway. we may attempt another flight in fifty years, sixty perhaps, maybe more. but you've already proved space travel, capt. galus. the achievement is ours. all we need now is money to...."

"damn it, i'm not capt. galus," cal shouted. "and we've got to get back to earth. i've got a kid, mr. president. he's six years old and...." cal stopped abruptly. "oh, this is all nonsense. why am i arguing with you? can't you understand that we are earthmen? what do we have to do to prove it?"

the president sighed and turned over the photographs on the desk. they were glossy prints of two men in uniform. they were young men, in khaki, smiles on their faces.

one man looked exactly like calvin manners.

the other strongly resembled david langley.

"here are your photographs," the president said. "this is you, captain, and you, lieutenant. they were taken before the trip. you're younger, of course."

cal stared at the photograph. it could have been he. the nose was a little sharper, perhaps, and the face thinner. but it could have been he. it could have been he!

"it's a freak accident," he shouted. "a coincidence in two parallel cultures, a...."

he saw the look on the president's face then. it was a cold look, and a suspicious one. cal stopped speaking, sweat staining the armpits of his uniform shirt.

the president grinned again. "that's better. i understand the strain of space, gentlemen, but we must be practical, mustn't we?"

he paused. "shall we talk about earth now?"