 If, after being marooned on the alien planet, Moran does not discover any edible vegetation, how would he be expected to survive?
The plans were thrashed out very painstakingly, in formal conference on the space-yacht Nadine , with Moran present and allowed to take part in the discussion. From the viewpoint of the Nadine's ship's company, it was simply necessary to get rid of Moran. Now it lay astern, and Moran could see the planet that had been chosen for his marooning. The ice-cap, by its existence and circular shape, proved that the planet rotated at a not unreasonable rate. A water-ice ice-cap said that there were no poisonous gases in the planet's atmosphere. The fact was verified by the thick, dense cloud-masses which covered most of the surface,—all the surface, in fact, outside the ice-cap. But since there were ice-caps there would be temperate regions. In short, the ice-cap proved that a man could endure the air and temperature conditions he would find. Moran observed these things from the control-room of the Nadine , then approaching the world on planetary drive. He was to be left here, with no reason ever to expect rescue. Two of the Nadine's four-man crew watched out the same ports as the planet seemed to approach. They didn't seem to resent what he'd tried to do, or that he'd brought them an indefinite distance in an indefinite direction from their last landing-point, and they had still to re-locate themselves. Without rigid control of space-travel, any criminal anywhere could escape the consequences of any crime simply by buying a ticket to another world. Moran couldn't have bought a ticket, but he'd tried to get off the planet Coryus on the Nadine . Moran, at least, would be picked out as a fugitive from Coryus Three. In effect, with six people on board instead of five, the Nadine could not land anywhere for supplies. It could have travelled at almost any speed in practically any direction for a length of time that was at least indefinite. The process would be to find a planet and check its climate and relationship to other planets, and its flora and fauna against descriptions in the Directory. "I think," said Carol, to Moran, "that if it's too tropical where this signal's coming from, we'll take you somewhere near enough to the ice-cap to have an endurable climate. If somebody were wrecked on an even possibly habitable planet, the especially developed seed-strains would provide food in a minimum of time.
 He could use limited, fast-growing seed packets provided by the crew members of the Nadine.
 His space-suit is equipped with a nozzle through which he can absorb nutrients in gas form.  His only option would be to prey on animals, bacteria, fungi, or other living creatures.  He could use limited, fast-growing seed packets provided by the crew members of the Nadine.  He would not have any viable chance of survival without non-toxic vegetation.