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Doc grunted happily and said, "I could do with another sandwich"

"We thought we&039;d better hold back half," the thin wo table

"It wasHarry McHeath said, eht out of Swiss Family Robinson Anyone care for a taste of Scotch?" He fished a half-pint bottle out of his lefthand coat pocket The fat woencies, Rudy," Ross Hunter said quietly

Doc sighed and tucked it away "I suppose all second cups of coffee have been interdicted by the Corowled

Harry McHeath shook his head nervously and hastened to pour one for Doc and then for several of the others

Ra what makes the colors of the Wanderer"

She had had Ann stretch out on two chairs beside her, wrapped in the coat soirl&039;s head pillowed on herat the Wanderer The eastern yellow spot now had purple all around it, destroying the illusion of the jaws The two polar yellow spots were shrinking as they rotated out of sight In fact, the effect was alreat yellow bull&039;s eye Meanwhile the faintly crack-webbed e-shaped, had al of the Wanderer&039;s face

Rama Joan said: "I don&039;t think it&039;s natural features at all I think it&039;s sis are able to drive their planet through hyperspace, they&039;d surely be able to give it an appearance, they considered artistic and distinctive Cavemen didn&039;t paint the outside of their ho his lips "A two-tone planet Ialaxy"

Wojtowicz and Harry McHeath laughed uneasily The Raroard colory Hunter, his voice low but jerky with tension, said: "If you were that advanced, I don&039;t suppose you&039;d use natural planets at all You&039;d design and build them from scratch Gosh, this seems crazy!" he finished rapidly

"Not at all," Doc assured him "Be damned efficient to use all of a planet&039;s voluenerators down to the very core Of course that would require so - "

"Not if you had antigravity," said Rama Joan

"Wow," Wojtowicz said tonelessly

"You&039;re clever, Mommy," Ann observed sleepily

Hunter said: "If you cancelled the gravity of a rotating planet, you&039;d have to have it pretty well tied together, or centrifugal force would tear it apart"

"Nope," Doc told hiether"

Paul cleared his throat He was sitting beside Margo and he&039;d taken off his coat and put it around her He&039;d meant to put his ar some of his body-heat back, but sos were that advanced, wouldn&039;t they also be careful not to injure or even disturb any inhabited planets they ca a benign Galactic Federation, or whatever you&039;d call it"

"Cosested in faintly sardonic tones

"No, you&039;re absolutely right, young man," the fat woman said authoritatively, while the thin woman nodded, her mouth pursed The first law of the Saucerians is to harm no life, but to nurture and protect all"

"But is it the first law of General Motors?" Hunter wanted to know "Or General Mao?"

Rama Joan smiled quizzically and asked Paul: "When you make an autoainst running over cats and dogs? Are the anthills all arden?"

"Still hot on your devil-theory, aren&039;t you?" Doc observed

Ras intent on their purpose, which now happens to collide with yours"

"Then evil&039;s just an auto accident?"

"Perhaps Remember, there are careless drivers, and even drivers who use a car to express themselves"

Paul asked: "Even if the car&039;s a planet?"

Rama Joan nodded

"Hmm I just use nakedwickedly

Margo, whose hands were curved around Miaow asleep on her lap, interjected sharply: "When I drive I can see a cat on the sidewalk three blocks ahead Cats are people That&039;s why I could never have gone into Vandenberg, even if they&039;d been more decent about the rest of it"

"But are people always people?" Hunter asked her with a smile

"I&039; her nose

The fat woo: "I hope that when things getwellrougher, you never regret passing up Vandenberg and throwing in with us You had your chance, you know"

Wojtowicz ju across the sand to where a pair of headlights were bobbing up and down And now there caine

Hunter said: "Paul, looks like Major Hued hisfro direction"

Wojtowicz said: "Yeah, it&039;s frohts slewed around, hesitated, then calare o said: "They&039;ll get stuck, whoever they are"

"Not if they keep up speed they won&039;t," said Wojtowicz

The car ca to ram the platform and then careened to a stop fifty feet away and doused its headlights

"It&039;s Hixon&039;s panel truck!" the Little Man said

"And there&039;s Mrs Hixon," Doc said, as a figure in pak slacks and sweater dropped from the back of the truck and ran toward them

Wojtowicz, Ross Hunter, and Harry McHeath hurried toward the truck As Mrs Hixon passed theot a broken leg" Then she was on the platfor Mrs Hixon had been a handso woman, but now her hands, face, slacks, and sweater were s down in strands, her lips were pulled back from her teeth, and her eyes stared There was blood on her chin As soon as she stopped hway&039;s blocked both ways," she gasped "We lost the others I think they&039;re dead I think the whole world&039;s s to drink?"

Doc said: "You called it," to Hunter as he pulled out his half pint, poured a double shot in an empty coffee cup, and started to add water She clutched it before he could and sucked it down greedily, then shuddered over her shaking Doc put his arms around her shoulders, hard "Now tell us point by point," he said, "fro"

She nodded, closed her eyes aout three cars Rivis&039;, our truck, Wentcher&039;s h to hold us easy Just Bill and Ray and hway there was no traffic That should have warned us, but we thought it was great Christ! Rivis turned north We headed for LA, following the h the static Just snatches Nothing but the big LA quake - do this, do that, don&039;t do it We had to keep swinging around little falls and rocks Still no cars The microbus ay ahead We here there was no beach, just a drop into the sea

"The road heaved - just like that, without warning, my God! It rocked the car like a boat The door jerked open and Ray Hanks pitched out I hung on to Bill He was ra The cliffs ca as a room hit ahead of us and cut a slice out of the road ten feet wide I reot the car stopped The road stopped heaving, too Then I was choking on dust, but then through the dust ca splash of water where the rock hit the sea I was tasting salt and blood and dust, and I could still feel ot awful quiet The road ahead was all blocked, dirt piled against the bumper I don&039;t knoe could have cli to try, because we didn&039;t know if the ot away, or what Just then an after-slide ca as a lion et back in the car, while he walked through the new falls, telling me how to cut the wheels as I backed it around rocks and over ridges and angles In between, he was coughing and cursing that new planet