 What lie does Gwayne plan to tell the crew?
They were something more—and something less—they were, in short, humanity's hopes for survival! [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, September 1961. Captain Gwayne cursed and rolled over, reaching for his boots. The starlanes between Earth and her potential colonies were rough on the men who traveled them now. Gwayne swore softly to himself. The two he'd drawn, Kaufman and Pinelli, seemed to be totally devoid of any sense of caution. But something had happened to the exploration party fifteen years back, and to the more recent ship under Hennessy that was sent to check up. The Sol-type sun must be rising, since there was a dim light. Even the deep gorge where they'd found Hennessy's carefully buried ship was completely hidden by the fog. Earth had ordered him to detour here, after leaving his load of deep-sleep stored colonists on Official World 71, to check on any sign of Hennessy. It was too far to see clearly, but Gwayne grabbed the microphone, yelling into the radio toward the cadets. Young Kaufman grabbed at Pinelli, and they swung around together. One seemed to be almost eight feet tall, leading the others directly toward the spacesuited cadets. One, at the front, was stuttering into life, and Gwayne dashed for it as the exit port slid back. Then Gwayne spotted them; surrounded by the menacing horde. A spear crunched against the windshield from behind, and Gwayne caught it before it could foul the steering wheel.
 Everyone is already infected.
 There is not enough fuel to get back to Earth.  The ship is broken.  Earth no longer exists.  Everyone is already infected.