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prove it."
    That sobered them all, and as a group, they looked at the reddish blue planet taunting them outside the windows.
    "Sometimes," Mayweather said, "the risk is worth it."
    "Well, the risk isn't worth it to cross a dang bridge on a planet that's wrong for a device that's impossible," Anderson said.
    "Your character is just as imaginary as the planet and the bridge," Novakovich said, turning back to the game.
    "Yeah," Mayweather said. "Unlike life, you can just roll another one. Right, Elizabeth?"
    "Right," she said. "As long as Mayweather and Novakovich don't mind."
    "Do it," Mayweather said, waving his hand. "But just don't name him Doom again."
    "Fine by me as well," Novakovich said.
    Anderson smiled. "All right, how about Dr. Mean?"
    As all of them laughed as Cutler rounded up the bolts, put them in the cup, and handed it to Anderson. This was working out better than she had hoped.
    "Strength role first," she said.
    Anderson's second character, Dr. Mean, had a strength of six, a dexterity of six, a luck of four, a charisma of five, and an intelligence level of four.
    "Dumber than the last one," Mayweather said.
    "Yeah," Anderson said, "but I can swim faster."
    With that laughter, the game returned to the bridge over the Martian canal, and this time, all three of the adventurers made it across just fine.

FOUR
    Captain's log.
    For the past half day we have held our position orbiting the planet we are now calling Fazi, for the name of the race of humanoids that inhabits it. To be honest, this waiting is driving me crazy. But at the moment I see no other option. Ensign Hoshi is still not convinced she had a handle on the Fazi language. She's tried to explain it to me twice, but for the moment I'll just let the records of her research speak for themselves. But there's clearly something different about the language.
    The Fazi are at an almost identical point in their development as humanity was when the Vulcans stopped by. The only difference that I can see on the surface is that the Fazi did not have to survive any war. That's a good thing, although there seems to be no logical reason for the uneven technological development.
    We've also done a number of scans of the other civilization inhabiting the small southern continent of the planet. There is clearly some sort of mutual respect, or treaty, between the two races, since there are no Fazi roads or structures at all on the entire continent.
    This other race, which has no sign of any advanced technology beyond basic building of structures, seems to live both on the shore and in the water. We're going to have to get closer before we get clear pictures of them. T'Pol is warning us away from doing just that with either race. So far I have agreed with her, mostly because of Hoshi's problems with the language of the Fazi. But I have to be honest, I'm excited about making this first contact. More excited than I have been in some time.
    The bridge smelled of beef stew and Archer didn't much care. He'd decided that he wanted to eat lunch right in his chair while studying readouts coming in from the planet scans, so he did just that. Captain's prerogative. Besides, when things got interesting, he hated taking the time for a meal and he had learned years ago that if he ate and worked, he would at least stay nourished.
    On the big screen in front of him, the Fazi major continent was passing, its greens and reds stark contrasts to the deep blues and white clouds.
    Porthos lay on the floor beside the captain's chair, sleeping, his leg twitching as he chased something in a dream. Archer wished that he could sleep as soundly as his dog sometimes. But that wasn't going to happen any time soon, not as long as they held off first contact with this planet.
    Around the bridge everyone worked pretty much in silence. Chief Engineer Charles "Trip" Tucker even had his head stuck under a panel near Hoshi's station, doing adjustments.
    "I must say, Captain, I am quite surprised that they