the village was a replica of the first hut, multiplied. some of the huts seemed to have specialized purposes as stores or warehouses, but otherwise it was the same. people sat in the houses, listening to music or watching moving pictures swarm over their hut walls. some occasionally ventured into the street. all of them ignored the earthmen.

"i don't know what to make of it," hinckley said finally. "we can touch them and hear them; they appear normal in all respects, but they seem to be operating on a different level of existence."

"i don't pretend to understand it," compton said, "but i have a feeling i don't like, whenever i think about it. i'd rather meet bug-eyed monsters than this."

"i know what you mean," hinckley said. "these people even though they're humanoid, are out of contact with reality—at least with reality as we know it. it's like some kind of mass hypnosis, with everyone in a trance except us."

"think of how helpless these people would be," compton said. "when we turn in our report, those who come out here with unhealthy designs won't have any opposition."

"we have a prime example of that on board," hinckley said disgustedly. "we'd better get back to the ship; i don't like to leave parker alone; there's no telling what he'll do."

when they got back parker wasn't there.

"i was afraid of this," hinckley said between clenched teeth.

"maybe they've done something to him," compton suggested nervously.

"that's too much to hope for. chances are, it's the other way around. if i know parker, there's only one place he'll be. c'mon."

clutching his rifle, hinckley ran from the rocket. compton followed, a bit more cautiously.

hinckley reached the lone house and peered into the bluelit gloom. he entered, gun ready, compton at his heels.

"he's not here," hinckley said, surprised.

the man and the young woman sat on the couch and casually watched pictures move across the far wall. hinckley, looking at the pictures, was not at all certain they weren't the reality and the natives of this place merely ghost images that might fade at any moment.

on the wall an empire was being formed. tall buildings were raised by machinery that was unfamiliar to the earthmen. aircraft flitted across the sky like strange black birds. the buildings towered, the flying machines dove, spitting needles that exploded into blossoms of fire, and the buildings toppled into dust. people ran, screaming soundless screams. columns of smoke rose to replace the buildings. the scene shifted. great weapons were assembled and heaped carelessly. to the heap were added the skycraft and other weapons of war. the pile exploded, and the people rejoiced, clasping hands, dancing. the walls darkened.

actual or symbolic? hinckley wondered.

"what does it mean?" compton asked him.

"i think," hinckley said, "we've just been given a short history of their race. they built up a great society here, but a warring one. finally, they outlawed all weapons in order to save themselves from total destruction. we could probably take a lesson from that."

"they'll probably be worse off when the earthmen come here," compton said. "even if they could see and hear us, they wouldn't have any weapons left to defend themselves. we could loot and rape and—"

"i think we'd better forget this planet exists," hinckley said slowly. "if we don't report it, no one'll ever know. it's one planet in a million planets. if we say it's empty, they'll believe it and never bother to check."

"but what about parker?"

"yes," hinckley said in a disturbed tone. "parker. we've got to find him before he does anything he shouldn't. he must be in one of the huts. c'mon. you take one side of the village, i'll take the other. when we find him, we'll blast off."

but they didn't find him. they searched through all the buildings, peered into all the faces.

"i don't like it," compton said when they met. "the people may be helpless, but that doesn't mean everything on the planet is. we've got to get out of here while we've got the chance."

"take it easy," hinckley advised. "we can't leave without parker. he's probably hiding someplace."

"hiding?"

"hoping we'll take off and leave him alone here. he'd be perfectly safe. he could take anything he wanted—food, drink, anything—and these people couldn't raise a finger to stop him; they wouldn't even know he was here, most likely. if i know parker that's what he'd want. he wouldn't care about the people as long as he satisfied himself."

"we'll never find him," compton said. "there's a forest beyond the village. if he got into that, we could search for months and not find him."

hinckley shrugged. "we've got to try."

night came before they returned to the rocket.

hinckley shook his head in the gathering darkness. "he could be anyplace out there, damn him."

"let's get out of here," compton suggested again. "leave him here, if that's what he wants. let him do what he wants here; what difference does it make if the natives don't know what's happening?"

hinckley's look was cold. "we'll wait until morning," he said. "if he isn't back by then, we'll leave."

but the next morning, the rays of the alien sun found the white squatting houses silent; parker had not returned.

hinckley turned on the outer loudspeaker. "parker," he said. the words crashed across the still village. "parker, this is hinckley. we're blasting off in five minutes. if you're not aboard, we're leaving without you."

after a few minutes, compton said, "he's not coming. he's probably dead, and so will we be if we wait long enough."

"more likely, he's ignoring us," hinckley said, consulting his watch. "he's got two minutes more."

two minutes later, compton said, "time's up."

hinckley nodded. he switched on the rocket motors. deep within the spaceship a turbine growled; the growl rose to a whine.

"i still don't like to leave him there. even though they don't know what's happening to them, i feel sorry for those people out there." he switched on the loudspeaker again. "parker," he said over it. "last chance. we're blasting off."

"he's not coming," compton said shrilly, "he's not coming."

hinckley touched a button. flaming rockets drove their fire in to the ground. the great spaceship shuddered, rose on a column of flame.

"at last," compton sighed. "at last."

"we'll have to come back, though," hinckley said. "i knew we'd have to turn in a report, and now i know we'll have to come back here to find parker, to jail him as a deserter, and perhaps worse. i hate to think of what'll happen to those people down there when the earthmen come."

they looked into a viewscreen. below them, the planet dwindled and became nothing.