 Why does the crew get off the ship with Moran?
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. Moran observed these things from the control-room of the Nadine , then approaching the world on planetary drive. They'd been on Coryus Three and they'd gotten departure clearance from its space-port. With clearance-papers in order, they could land unquestioned at any other space-port and take off again—provided the other space-port was one they had clearance for. Without rigid control of space-travel, any criminal anywhere could escape the consequences of any crime simply by buying a ticket to another world. The trouble was that the Nadine had clearance papers covering five persons aboard—four men and a girl Carol. Wherever the yacht landed, such a disparity between its documents and its crew would spark an investigation. 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. Blaster in hand, he'd made the Nadine take off from Coryus III with a trip-tape picked at random for guidance. Moran's own situation was perfectly clear. Moran had needed to get off-planet, and fast. But space-travel regulations are especially designed to prevent such escapes. One of the controls on space-traffic required a ship on landing to deposit its fuel-block in the space-port's vaults. The fuel-block was not returned until clearance for departure had been granted. He'd locked two of the Nadine's crew in the engine-room, rushed to the control-room without encountering the others, dogged the door shut, and threaded in the first trip-tape to come to hand. But his present companions got the drive dismantled two days later and once the yacht was out of overdrive they efficiently gave him his choice of surrendering or else. He surrendered, stipulating that he wouldn't be landed back on Coryus; he still clung to hope of avoiding return—which was almost certain anyhow. It was not until six thousand feet above the surface that the planet-wide cloud-level seemed to begin. The yacht descended as if in the center of a sphere in which one could see clearly nearby, less clearly at a little distance, and not at all beyond a quarter-mile or so.
 The crew needs to gather information to compare against the Galactic Directory. Then they can figure out where they are, so they can get where they are going.
 The ship's supplies are low. They are hunting for edible creatures.  The crew needs to gather information to compare against the Galactic Directory. Then they can figure out where they are, so they can get where they are going.  The ship's supplies are low. They are going to raid the ship that sent the distress call.  They want to hand off Moran to the crew of the ship that sent the distress call.