Out of the corner of his eye Link saw that two pig-like animals had appeared not far away. They might be the same two he’d seen before. They squatted on their haunches and watched curiously, what went on as between men. He said:
“My name’s Link. Link Denham, in fact. Pleased to meet you.”
“The same, suh! The same!” The leader’s tone became warm while remaining stately. “I take that very kindly, Link, tellin’ me your last name, too. And right off Denham… Denham… I never met none of your Household before, but I’ll remember it’s a mannerly group. Would you… uh… have anything else to say?”
Link thought it over.
“I’ve come a long way,” he observed. “I’m not sure what to say that would be most welcome.”
“Welcome!” said the man who called himself Harl. He beamed. “Now, that’s right nice! Boys, we been welcomed by this here Link and he’s told us his last name and that’s manners! This here gentleman ain’t like that other fella! We’re guestin’.”
He slipped from his saddle, hung Thistlethwaite’s stun gun on his saddle horn, and leaned his spear against the Glamorgan. He held out his hand cordially to Link. Link shook it. Harl’s followers similarly divested themselves of weapons. They solemnly shook hands with Link. Harl rapped on one of the Glamorgan’s hull plates and said admiringly:
“This here ship’s iron, ain’t it? M-m-m-h! I never saw so much iron to one place in all my lifetime!”
A scornful voice from somewhere said indignantly, “We saw it first! It’s ours!”
“Shut up,” said Harl to the landscape at large. “And stay shut up.” He turned, “Now, Link—”
“We saw it first!” insisted the voice furiously. “We saw it first! It’s ours!”
“This gentleman,” said Harl firmly, and again to the landscape, “is maybe thinkin’ of settin’ up a Household here! You uffts clear out!”
Two voices, now, insisted stridently:
“It’s ours! We saw it first! It’s ours!”
Harl said apologetically:
“I’m real sorry, Link, but you know how it is with uffts! Uh… I’d like to ask you something private.”
“Come inside,” said Link. He rose.
Harl and his companions—Link thought of the word “retainers” for no special reason—came trooping into the port. Link was very alertly interested. He didn’t understand this state of things at all, but men with inhospitable intentions do not disarm themselves. These men had. Men with unpleasant purposes tend to cast furtive glances from one to another. These men didn’t. If one ignored the presence of Thistlethwaite’s garments, and the absence of Thistlethwaite himself, the atmosphere was almost insanely cordial and friendly and uncalculating. It verified past question that this planet had very little contact with other worlds. People of brisk and progressive cultures feel a deep suspicion of strangers and of each other. With reason. Yet Thistlethwaite—
Link let the small group precede him up the steps inside the landing fin. He could get down and outside before any of them, and very probably lock them in. Then he’d be armed and mounted, which in case of unfriendliness might be an advantage. But in spite of whatever had happened to Thistlethwaite, the feel of things was in no sense ominous. The visitors to the ship were openly curious and openly astonished at what they saw.
They commented almost incredulously that the long flight of steps was made of iron. Link tactfully did not refer to the sealed-off cargo compartments—the lifeboat was sealed off, too—nor to Thistlethwaite’s garments worn so matter-of-factly by his guests. They passed the engine room without recognizing the door to it as what it was. They marveled to each other that iron showed through the worn floor-covering of the mess room. They were astounded by the cabins. But the control room left them entirely uninterested except for small metal objects—instruments—fastened to the control board and fitted into the walls.
The man wearing Thistlethwaite’s pants took a deep breath. He caught Link’s eye and said wistfully:
“Mistuh Link, that’s a right pretty little thing!”
He pointed to the ship’s chronometer. Harl said angrily:
“You shut up! What kinds guest-gift have you brought? I beg y’pardon, Link, for this fella!” He glared at his following. “Sput! You fellas go downstairs an’ wait outside, so’s you won’t shame me again! I got to talk confidential to Mistuh Link, anyway.”
His followers, still flaunting Thistlethwaite’s garments, went trooping down and out. Silence fell, below. Then Harl said:
“Link, I’m right sorry about that fella! Admirin’ something of yours to get it, without givin’ you a gift first! I’d ought to chase him outa my Household for bad manners! I hope you’ll excuse me for him!”
“No harm done,” said Link. “He just forgot.” It was evident that etiquette played a great part in the lives of the people of Sord Three. It looked promising. “I’d like to ask—”
Harl said confidentially, “Let’s talk private, Link. Do you know a little fella with whiskers that cusses dreadful an’ insults people right an’ left an’ says—” his voice dropped to a shocked tone—“an’ says he’s a friend of Old Man Addison? A fella like that come to my Household and—you maybe won’t believe this, Link, but it’s so—he offered to pay me for sendin’ a message to Old Man Addison! He… offered to… pay me! Like I was an ufft! I’m beggin’ your pardon for askin’ such a thing, but we’re talkin’ private. Do you know a fella like that?”
“He ran the engines of this ship,” said Link. “His name’s Thistlethwaite. I don’t know what he has to do with Old Man Addison.”
“Natural!” said Harl hastily. “I wouldn’t suspect you of anything like that! But… uh… the womenfolks said his clothes wasn’t duplied. Is that a fact, Link? They went crazy fingerin’ the cloth he was wearin’. Was it unduplied, Link?”
“I wouldn’t know anything about his clothes,” said Link. “I did notice your men were wearing them. I wondered.”
“But you didn’t say a word,” said Harl, warmly. “Yes, suh! You got manners! But did you ever hear anything like what I just told you? Offerin’ to pay me—and me a Householder—for sendin’ a message to Old Man Addison! Did you ever, Link?”
“It’s bad?” asked Link, blinking.
“I left word,” said Harl indignantly, “to hang him as soon as enough folks got together to enjoy it. What else could I do? But I’d heard the noise when this ship came down, and it was you, landin’ here! It’s a great thing havin’ you land here, Link! And think of havin’ clothes that ain’t duplied! If you set up a Household—”
Link stared. He’d always believed that he craved the new and the unpredictable. But this talk left him way behind. He felt that it would be a good idea to go off by himself and hold his head for a while. Yet Thistlethwaite—
“Sput!” said Harl, frowning to himself. “Here I am, guestin’ with you, an’ no guest-gift! But in a way you’re guestin’ with me, being this is on my Household land. And I ain’t been hospitable! Look, Link! I’ll send a ufft over with a message to hold up the hangin’ till we get there and we’ll go watch with the rest. What say?”
For perhaps the first time in his life, Link felt that things were a good deal more unexpected than he entirely enjoyed. There was only one way to stay ahead of developments until he could sort things out.
“That suggestion,” he said profoundly, “is highly consistent with the emergency measures I feel should be substituted for apparently standard operational procedures with reference to discourteous space travelers.” He saw that Harl looked at once blank and admiring, which was what he’d hoped. “In other words,” said Link, “yes.”