Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction June 1956. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.
The Moralist
By JACK TAYLOR
Illustrated by WEISS
Aye, 'tis a difficult thing to be a lady on a far world—butwho needs them there?
here are exceptions to almost every rule and Xenon was one of them.The rule in this particular case was the old cataloguers' adage thatcataloguing duty was never pleasant, often dangerous and always hard.Xenon is the fourth planet of one of the stars investigated some sevenor eight years ago by the battleship Terra on her swing around theedge of the Black Hole.
Unequipped for exploration, the Terra hadn't bothered to land on theplanet, but instead had taken only the usual gravitational andatmosphere readings and then had continued on her long mapping patrol.She had slowed just long enough to send back her report on tight beamto Venus Relay Station and propose the name of Xenon, "the unknown."After all, a planet with point nine Earth gravity and almost twentyper cent oxygen in its atmosphere was well worth a name rather than anumber.
About a year later, the preliminary exploration ship arrived and spentseveral weeks mapping and testing this, that and the other thing.Then she went home and wrote her report—and what a report it was! Thething read like a Chamber of Commerce bulletin that had been sponsoredby a subdivider. All it needed was a couple of ads offering somechoice business locations for sale and it would have been complete.
The planet was perfect, the climate was perfect, the soil fertile.There were no natives or hostile life to bother a man. The forestswere wide, the plains were broad and the numerous rivers were not onlyfull of fish but also emptied into blue seas that were just as full offish as the rivers. That report was enough to make a man quit his joband go to Xenon to start a chicken ranch or grow oranges.
he bureau of Colonization acted with its usual speed. Three yearslater, a cataloguing group landed from the supply ship Hunter. Theduties of the groups are simple enough; they determine which of thefood crops known to Man can best adapt themselves to the conditionsfound on the particular planet under examination. They list the nativeflora and fauna, minerals and resources. They chart the weather andits cycles and, in general, try to determine if Man can exist thereand, if so, if the planet is worth the expense, trouble and danger ofcolonization.
Most planets are not worth it, but Xenon was.
And now the group had returned with its final report and itsrecommendations. The report? Xenon was perfect, just perfect. Therecommendations? Immediate colonization, but be careful who is sent sothat place isn't spoiled by a bunch of land-grabbing exploiters whomight not appreciate the place.
They had been back nearly a week before Lee Spencer had time to cometo my place for the weekend. Due to a combination of my wife's cookingand a sedentary desk job with the Bure