THE TEST COLONY
BY WINSTON MARKS
Illustrated by Kelly Freas
[Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from If Worlds of ScienceFiction September 1954. Extensive research did not uncover any evidencethat the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
It was the afternoon of our arrival. Our fellow members of the "testcolony" were back in the clearing at the edge of the lake, getting theirground-legs and drinking in the sweet, clean air of Sirius XXII. I wasstrolling along the strip of sandy beach with Phillip Benson, leader ofour group, sniffing the spicy perfume of the forest that crowded withintwenty feet of the water's edge.
Half a billion miles overhead, Sirius shone with an artificially whiteglow. Somewhere on the horizon, Earth lay, an invisible, remote speck ofdust we had forsaken 24 dreary, claustrophobic months ago.
The trip had taken its toll from all of us, even tough-minded PhilBenson. We both found it difficult to relax and enjoy the invigorating,oxygen-rich air and the balmy climate. As official recorder, I wastrying to think of words suitable to capture the magnificence, the sheerloveliness of the planet which would be our home for at least fouryears, perhaps forever.
Each absorbed in his own thoughts, Benson and I were some 500 yards fromthe clearing when he stopped me with a hand on my arm. "Who is that?" hedemanded.
Up the beach where he pointed, two naked forms emerged from the calmwaters. They skipped across the sand and began rolling togetherplayfully in the soft grasses at the forest's edge. Even at thisdistance they were visibly male and female.
"I can't make them out," I said. My only thought was that one of theyoung couples had swum down ahead of us and was enjoying the firstprivacy attainable in two years.
Benson's eyes were sharper. "Sam, they—they look like—"
Our voices must have reached them, for they sprang apart and rose totheir feet facing us.
"Like youngsters," I supplied.
"We have no kids with us," Benson reminded me. He began to move forward,slowly, as though stalking a wild animal.
"Wait, Phil," I said. "The planet is uninhabited. They can't be—"
He continued shuffling ahead, and I followed. Within 20 paces I knew hewas right. Whoever they were they hadn't come with us!
Benson stopped so quickly I bumped into him. "Look, Sam! Their hands andfeet! Four digits and—no thumbs!"
I could now make out the details. The two forms were not quite human.The toes were long and prehensile. The fingers, too, were exceptionallylong, appearing to have an extra joint, but as Benson mentioned, therewas no opposing thumb.
They stood well apart now, the female seeking no protection from themale. Curiosity was written in their faces, and when we stoppedadvancing they began edging forward until they were only five yardsaway.
Their outlines, instead of becoming clearer, had fuzzed up more as theyapproached. Now it was evident that their bodies were lightly coveredwith a silky hair, some two or three inches long. It had already driedout in the warm sun and was standing out away from their skins likegolden haloes.
They stood well under five feet tall, and in every detail, except thebody hair and digits, appeared to be miniature adults, complete withnavels.
Even in the midst of the shock of surprise, I was taken by theirremarkable beauty. "They'