Transcriber’s note
This etext was produced from Astounding Science Fiction August 1959.Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyrighton this publication was renewed.
THE ALIENS
BY MURRAY LEINSTER
Illustrated by van Dongen
The human race was expanding through the galaxy ... and so, theyknew, were the Aliens. When two expanding empires meet ... war isinevitable. Or is it ...?
At 04 hours 10 minutes, ship time, the Niccola was well inside theTheta Gisol solar system. She had previously secured excellent evidencethat this was not the home of the Plumie civilization. There was no tunedradiation. There was no evidence of interplanetary travel—rockets wouldbe more than obvious, and a magnetronic drive had a highly characteristicradiation-pattern—so the real purpose of the Niccola’s voyage wouldnot be accomplished here. She wouldn’t find out where Plumies came from.
There might, though, be one or more of those singular, conical,hollow-topped cairns sheltering silicon-bronze plates, which constitutedthe evidence that Plumies existed. The Niccola went sunward toward theinner planets to see. Such cairns had been found on conspicuous landmarkson oxygen-type planets over a range of some twelve hundred light-years.By the vegetation about them, some were a century old. On the sameevidence, others had been erected only months or weeks or even daysbefore a human Space Survey ship arrived to discover them. And thesituation was unpromising. It wasn’t likely that the galaxy was bigenough to hold two races of rational beings capable of space travel. Backon ancient Earth, a planet had been too small to hold two races withtools and fire. Historically, that problem was settled when Homosapiens exterminated Homo neanderthalis. It appeared that the samesituation had arisen in space. There were humans, and there were Plumies.Both had interstellar ships. To humans, the fact was alarming. The needfor knowledge, and the danger that Plumies might know more first, andthereby be able to exterminate humanity, was appalling.
Therefore the Niccola. She drove on sunward. She had left one frozenouter planet far behind. She had crossed the orbits of three others. Thelast of these was a gas giant with innumerable moonlets revolving aboutit. It was now some thirty millions of miles back and twenty to one side.The sun, ahead, flared and flamed in emptiness against that expanse oftinted stars.
Jon Baird worked steadily in the Niccola’s radar room. He was one ofthose who hoped that the Plumies would not prove to be the naturalenemies of mankind. Now, it looked like this ship wouldn’t find out inthis solar system. There were plenty of other ships on the hunt. Fromhere on, it looked like routine to the next unvisited family of planets.But meanwhile he worked. Opposite him, Diane Holt worked as steadily, herdark head bent intently over a radar graph in formation. The immediatejob was the completion of a