第20部分(第5/7 頁)

ne。　The　alien　technology　might　be　purely　mental；　with　no　visible　hardware　at　all。

＇＇130＇＇　This　issue　was　at　the　heart　of　congruity　theory；　which　said　that　unless　the　aliens　were　remarkably　similar　to　us；　no　exchange　of　information　was　likely。　Barnes　of　course　knew　that　theory；　so　he　knew　he　wasn't　likely　to　derive　any　useful　technology　from　the　alien　sphere。　But　he　was　very　likely　to　get　useful　technology　from　the　spaceship　itself；　since　the　spaceship　had　been　made　by　men；　and　congruity　was　high。

And　he　had　lied　to　keep　them　down。　To　keep　the　search　going。

〃What　should　we　do　with　the　bastard？〃　Beth　said。　〃Nothing；　for　the　moment；〃　Norman　said。

〃You　don't　want　to　confront　him？　Jesus；　I　do。〃

〃It　won't　serve　any　purpose；〃　Norman　said。　〃Ted　won't　care；　and　the　Navy　people　are　all　following　orders。　And　anyway；　even　if　it　had　been　arranged　for　us　to　depart　as　planned；　would　you　have　gone；　leaving　Harry　behind　in　the　sphere？〃

〃No；〃　Beth　admitted。

〃Well；　then。　It's　all　academic。〃

〃Jesus；　Norman　。。。〃

〃I　know。　But　we're　here　now。　And　for　the　next　couple　of　days；　there's　not　a　damn　thing　we　can　do　about　it。　Let's　deal　with　that　reality　as　best　we　can；　and　point　the　finger　later。〃

〃You　bet　I'm　going　to　point　the　finger！〃

〃That's　fine。　But　not　now；　Beth。〃

〃Okay；〃　she　sighed。　〃Not　now。〃

She　went　back　upstairs。

Alone；　Norman　stared　at　the　console。　He　had　his　work　cut　out　for　him；　keeping　everybody　calm　for　the　next　few　days。　He　hadn't　looked　into　the　puter　system　before；　he　started　pressing　buttons。　Pretty　soon　he　found　a　file　marked　ULF　CONTACT　TEAM　BIOG。　＇＇131＇＇　He　opened　it　up。

Civilian　Team　Members

1。　Theodore　Fielding；　astrophysicist/planetary　geologist

2。　Elizab