 Why don't the Altairians leave Altair I if it is so overpopulated?
I mean, all they had to do was get a man over here, get the extradition papers signed, and provide transportation off the planet for me. I've got three million credits sitting in the Terran Consulate on Altair V, just waiting for me to walk in and pick them up. Altair I had been recognized at once by the Trading Commission as a commercial prize of tremendous value, but early reports had warned of the danger of wildcat trading on the little, musty, jungle-like planet with its shaggy, three-eyed inhabitants—warned specifically against the confidence tactics so frequently used—but there was always somebody, Meyerhoff reflected sourly, who just didn't get the word.
 They don't leave because they can only eat food grown on Altair I.
 They don't leave because they can only eat food grown on Altair I.  The Goddess won't let them leave.  They don't leave because no other planets will clear ships from Altair I for landing. Nobody likes liars.  They don't leave because they have not achieved space travel.