First on the scene were Larry Dermott and Tim Casey of the State Highway Patrol. They assumed they were witnessing the crash of a new type of Air Force plane and slipped and skidded desperately across the field to within thirty feet of the strange craft, only to discover that the landing had been made without accident.





Patrolman Dermott shook his head. "They're gettin' queerer looking every year. Get a load of it -- no wheels, no propeller, no cockpit."





They left the car and made their way toward the strange egg-shaped vessel.





Tim Casey loosened his .38 in its holster and said, "Sure, and I'm beginning to wonder if it's one of ours. No insignia and --"





A circular door slid open at that point and Dameri Tass stepped out, yawning. He spotted them, smiled and said, "Glork."





They gaped at him.





"Glork is right," Dermott swallowed.

Dallas McCord "Mack" Reynolds (1917 - 1983) was an American science fiction writer. His pen names included Dallas Ross, Mark Mallory, Clark Collins, Dallas Rose, Guy McCord, Maxine Reynolds, Bob Belmont and Todd Harding. His work is noteworthy for its focus on socioeconomic speculation, usually expressed in thought-provoking explorations of Utopian societies from a radical, sometime satiric, perspective. He was a considerably popular author from the 1950s to the 1970s, especially with readers of science fiction and fantasy magazines. Reynolds was the first author to write an original novel based upon the 1966-1969 NBC television series Star Trek. The book, Mission to Horatius (1968), was aimed at young readers.