Exploration Team

"If you took a spitting cobra and crossed it with a wildcat, painted it tan-and-blue and then gave it hydrophobia and homicidal mania at once—why you might have one sphex.", so says rugged adventurer Hyugens of the a particularly vicious native species to the harsh and inhospitable planet Loren Two, a planet that Hyugens has chosen to attempt to colonize illegally with the help of his friends Sitka Pete, Sourdough Charley and Faro Nell (along with her child Nugget), massive mutated Kodiak bears, bred to be intelligent and loyal to man. Also to aid him in his mission is his trained giant eagle Semper. When Huygens discovers that a robot colony has been overrun by sphexes and possible survivors are trapped in a mine-tunnel with little time to spare, he makes the difficult choice to head out on a rescue mission, even if it means his own arrest and capture.

Winner of Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 1956!

(Summary by Ben Tucker )