 Who seems to be the least intelligent person?
Brightside Crossing by Alan E. Nourse JAMES BARON was not pleased to hear that he had had a visitor when he reached the Red Lion that evening. He had no stomach for mysteries, vast or trifling, and there were pressing things to think about at this time. Across to the right was a group that Baron knew vaguely—Andean climbers, or at least two of them were. Then he settled back and waited impatiently for the intruder who demanded his time without justifying it. You’re the only man on Earth who’s attempted a Brightside Crossing and lived through it! I guess I was about ten when Wyatt and Carpenter made the last attempt—that was in 2082, I think. He was a major in the Interplanetary Service for some years and hung onto the title after he gave up his commission. I first met him on Venus; we spent five years together up there doing some of the nastiest exploring since the Matto Grasso. Then he made the attempt on Vulcan Crater that paved the way for Balmer a few years later. I’d always liked the Major—he was big and quiet and cool, the sort of guy who always had things figured a little further ahead than anyone else and always knew what to do in a tight place. Too many men in this game are all nerve and luck, with no judgment. He also had the kind of personality that could take a crew of wild men and make them work like a well-oiled machine across a thousand miles of Venus jungle.
 McIvers
 Stone  McIvers  Sanderson  Mikuta