Tired after weeks in space, Jeff Wadley and his father set their ship down on an unnamed planet in the Buckhorn Cluster without looking first, and only then see the other vessel on the sand. It is no rocket, and no human made it. Should they investigate, or run? Their argument over the stranger tests the bond between them.
A compact 1952 story by a future Hugo winner, for readers who like first-contact puzzles with a human core. Download the free EPUB.