Leghk Sector
Nid Berry World
G'Nunk Warship Regepple

"Cut the brakes and fire a burst on the starboard maneuvering thrusters!" screeched Dozelord Gannuzo. The Regepple was streaking through the high skies of the famed Nid Berry World and when the helmsman carried out his orders, the ship banked into a barrel roll as it shot toward the surface. The warship punched through the cloud layer and descended into the dense troposphere of the teeming world.

"Dozelord," said the navigator, "the grasslands appear as you said they would, just short of the leading edge of nightfall. The final approach path is locked into the computer."

"Splendid! Begin the landing cycle—full fury on the thrusters! Not a single microbe survives our arrival!" ordered the commanding dozelord. True to form, the Regepple set down amid a burnt of patch of razor grass and the landing gears dug over a meter into the scorched peat. Steam shot out of the hydraulics as the boarding ramps hit land and a set of large-wheeled terrain rovers rode down onto the planet surface.

In the cab of the command rover, Gannuzo pulled a worn leather pilot's hat and goggles over his head. As he settled in, the dozelord noticed and annoying rocking sensation and demanded, "what's wrong with the stabilizers?"

"They're operational, dozelord—the motion is the shift of the bergs. It will cease once we reach firm land." Regepple had landed on a floating patch of peat bergs that lined the coast on this part of the planet, tied by tough roots to the ocean floor. Clumped together, they appeared like any other fields of grass, but they stirred with the warm currents beneath them. "The group is standing by to depart, dozelord."

"Good," said Gannuzo. He popped his head out of the hatch and scanned eastward through his goggle binoculars. "Head for shore and tell the others to maintain a loose formation—don't bunch up." Dispersed over the bobbing sea clumps, four G'Nunk vehicles set out from the Regepple and waded through the waves of green razor grass. The sun dipped behind the horizon and the Great Cloud shimmered against star field in the night sky.

The Heaven Colony
Ez Fortuit Spaceport
4th Class Yards

Boz, Yssk and Nexbo pulled up in a beat up red truck full of supplies. They halted in front of a burnt out ship with weeds prospering around the landing gears. "It needs a coat of paint," shrugged Nexbo. Boz slapped his forehead and ran his hand down over his face in exasperation. The ship needed more than a coat of paint.

"Nexbo, it's a maintenance shuttle stapled to an engine well," reasoned Boz, pointing to the shoddy welding job. The ship was in what amounted to a huge parking lot for broken vessels two or three kilometers outside the main port. "Even Shady Dave wouldn't dream up something like this," he said, composing a verdict: "what a lemon."

"It'sss ugly, Bozzz, but it should do the trick," said Yssk. He was learning a few Human expressions to cut time on the translators. "'The smaller the better, consssidering what you plan to do with it." Boz grunted at that.

"Just a coat of paint, boss," said Nexbo. They started unloading the crates and tool cases from the truck.

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Next: "By Sea, By Stars"

Around the Galaxy "Nebulae Schmebulae," says Bob Drake's spokesman, responding to reports that StelCom's bachelor-president slipped away for a weekend on Nebulae Cruises' premium liner SS Hadlee—avec Lisa Gallup, Interstel Corporation's Vice President for Requisitions. True love—or StelCom's bid to supply comm hardware on Interstel's next line of caravels? "Hrxx Bxx is flipping patties at Arth Burger!" said Someone Who Knows. Apparently, AG's fave freight ship skipper lost his shirt on a failed bid to make a mint importing "huggable hoop snakes" to Woo-Hoo IV. Boo-hoo, HB. As for Arth's number one on-the-run guy, Habby Loman is still on the lam—see no Habby, hear no Habby, bust no Habby.

Hilsfar & Company: He said, she said, it said.
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