 What was Earth's first Spaceship?
The sight of an Earthman on Vega III, where it was impossible for an outlander to be, brought angry crowds to surround John Crownwall as he strode toward the palace of Viceroy Tronn Ffallk, ruler of Sector XII of the Universal Holy Empire of Sunda. He ignored the snarling, the spitting, the waving of boneless prehensile fingers, as he ignored the heavy gravity and heavier air of the unfamiliar planet. But here, surrounded by this writhing, slithering mass of eight-foot creatures, he felt distinctly unhappy. These humanoids had large mouths and sharp teeth, and they unquestionably slavered. If they carried out the threats of their present attitude, Earth would have to send Marshall to replace him. The clashing teeth of the noisiest of them were only inches from the quivering flesh of his back as he reached the upper level. A pair of guards, their purple hides smoothly polished and gleaming with oil, crossed their ceremonial pikes in front of him as he approached the entrance. "Just tell him that a man has arrived from Earth to talk to him. An elegant courtier, with elaborately jeweled harness, bustled from inside the palace, obviously trying to present an air of strolling nonchalance. Behind him stood a heavy and pompous appearing Vegan in lordly trappings. "But then I'm told you're an Earthling. "It was only decided yesterday, back on Earth, that I would be the one to make the trip here. Even if you could spy through buildings on Earth from space, which I doubt, your communications system can't get the word through that fast." What I meant was that I expected someone from Earth to break through our blockade and come here. Still, if you were on your home planet only yesterday, that's astonishing even to me. "If you wanted someone from Earth to come here to see you, why did you put the cordon around Earth? And why did you drop a planet-buster in the Pacific Ocean, and tell us that it was triggered to go off if we tried to use the distorter drive? But you did come, so I can tell you that although I am the leader of one of the mightiest peoples in the Galaxy, whereas there are scarcely six billions of you squatting on one minor planet, we still need each other. "We offer you partnership with us to take over the rule of the Galaxy from the Sunda—the so-called Master Race."
 Star Seeker
 Voyager  Alpha Centauri  Star Seeker  Enterprise