a piece; that lack of advance in some directions did not necessarily exclude considerable advance in others-but surely this example of uneven development was unusual.
Of those who were now watching the ship, at least half were elderly men and women; there were also three or four children. Of the rest, more were women than men. None showed any fear or uncertainty whatever.
Trevize said in a low voice to Bliss, "Are you manipulating them? They seem-serene."
"I'm not in the least manipulating them," said Bliss. "I never touch minds unless I must. It's Fallom I'm concerned with."
Few as the newcomers were to anyone who had experienced the crowds of curiosity-seekers on any normal world in the Galaxy, they were a mob to Fallom, to whom the three adults on the Far Star had been something to grow accustomed to. Fallom was breathing rapidly and shallowly, and her eyes were half-closed. Almost, she seemed in shock.
Bliss was stroking her, softly and rhythmically, and making soothing sounds. Trevize was certain that she was delicately accompanying it all by an infinitely gentle rearrangement of mental fibrils.
Fallom took in a sudden deep breath, almost a gasp, and shook herself, in what was perhaps an involuntary shudder. She raised her head and looked at those present with something approaching normality and then buried her head in the space between Bliss's arm and body.
Bliss let her remain so, while her arm, encircling Fallom's shoulder, tightened periodically as though to indicate her own protective presence over and over.
Pelorat seemed rather awestruck, as his eyes went from one Alphan to another. He said, "Golan, they differ so among themselves."
Trevize had noticed that, too. There were various shades of skin and hair color, including one brilliant redhead with blue eyes and freckled skin. At least three apparent adults were as short as Hiroko, and one or two were taller than Trevize. A number of both sexes had eyes resembling those of Hiroko, and Trevize remembered that on the teeming commercial planets of the Fili sector, such eyes were characteristic of the population, but he had never visited that sector.
All the Alphans wore nothing above the waist and among the women the breasts all seemed to be small. That was the most nearly uniform of all the bodily characteristics that he could see.
Bliss said suddenly, "Miss Hiroko, my youngster is not accustomed to travel through space and she is absorbing more novelty than she can easily manage. Would it be possible for her to sit down and, perhaps, have something to eat and drink?"
Hiroko looked puzzled, and Pelorat repeated what Bliss had said in the more ornate Galactic of the mid-Imperial period.
Hiroko's hand then flew to her mouth and she sank to her knees gracefully. "I crave your pardon, respected madam," she said. "I have not thought of this child's needs, nor of thine. The strangeness of this event has too occupied me. Wouldst thou-would you all-as visitors and guests, enter the refectory for morning meal? May we join you and serve as hosts?"
Bliss said, "That is kind of you." She spoke slowly and pronounced the words carefully, hoping to make them easier to understand. "It would be better, though, if you alone served as hostess, for the sake of the comfort of the child who is unaccustomed to being with many people at once."
Hiroko rose to her feet. "It shall be as thou hast said."
She led them, in leisurely manner, across the grass. Other Alphans edged closer. They seemed particularly interested in the clothing of the newcomers. Trevize removed his light jacket, and handed it to a man who had sidled toward him and had laid a questing finger upon it.
"Here," he said, "look it over, but return it." Then he said to Hiroko. "See that I get it back, Miss Hiroko."
"Of a surety, it will be backhanded, respected sir." She nodded her head gravely.
Trevize smiled and walked on. He was more comfortable without the jacket in the light, mild breeze.
He had detected no visible weapons on the persons of any of those about him, and he found it interesting that no one seemed to show any fear or discomfort over Trevize's. They did not even show curiosity concerning them. It might well be that they were not aware of the objects as weapons at all. From what Trevize had so far seen, Alpha might well be a world utterly without violence.
A woman, having moved rapidly forward, so as to be a little ahead of Bliss, turned to examine her blouse