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 Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, 11e Instructor’s Manual

Solution Manual for Human Resource

Management, 14th Edition
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Chapter 2 – Strategic Human Resource Management

This chapter provides an introduction of the strategic human resource management, its role within
a company’s competiveness. It is important to ensure students are aware of strategic management
(LO 2-1) and the general approaches to strategic management (LO 2-2). Here, instructors may be
able to have students review previous material covered in a Principles of Management or an
Introduction to Business course and review different generic strategies. It may be helpful for
instructors to emphasize internal and external analysis as important steps to strategy formulation.
As within Chapter 1, this can be integrated into a discussion of general business acumen for any
manager or leader, not just those concerned with HRM.

Instructors may emphasize that strategic decisions and components of the process are all people-
related (LO 2-3) and thus may require further integration of HRM and strategy formulation (LO 2-
4). It is important here to not just simply state employees are important to consider, but to
illustrate how these decisions may be informed through HRM as well as improved and enhanced for
better strategy. LO 2-5 and LO 2-6 provides examples of how HRM practices would be chosen to
align behind different organizational strategies. Throughout the discussion, different HRM practices
and processes and how they may contribute is defined.

Learning Objectives
LO 2-1: Describe the differences between strategy formulation and strategy implementation.

LO 2-2: List the components of the strategic management process.

LO 2-3: Discuss the role of the HRM function in strategy formulation.

LO 2-4: Describe the linkages between HRM and strategy formulation.

LO 2-5: Discuss the more popular typologies of generic strategies and the various HRM practices
associated with each.

LO 2-6: Describe the different HRM issues and practices associated with various directional
strategies.

Society for Human Resource Management Body of Competency &

Knowledge

This chapter contains content which may be identified within the following content areas identified
in HR Expertise:
Copyright © 2019 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution
without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
 Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, 11e Instructor’s Manual
HR Strategic Planning
Talent Acquisition
Employee Engagement & Retention
Learning & Development
Total Rewards
Structure of the HR Function
Organizational Effectiveness & Design

Copyright © 2019 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution

without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
 Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, 11e Instructor’s Manual

Workforce Management
Employee & Labor Relations

Human Resource Certification Institute’s A Guide to the HR Body of

Knowledge

This chapter contains content which may be identified within the following content areas:
Business Management & Strategy
Workforce Planning and Employment
Human Resource Development
Compensation and Benefits
Employee and Labor Relations

Other Classroom Materials: CONNECT

There are CONNECT exercises available through McGraw-Hill, which can greatly assist student
preparation for class and understanding of chapter concepts. Instructors may wish to structure the
class, where students must complete the CONNECT exercises prior to class, thus, further reinforcing
material and allowing instructors to expand and challenge student understanding during class time.
CONNECT exercises may be set-up to be time-based, requiring students to practice chapter
materials for a specific timeframe. It is the instructors’ discretion how they desire to include this
into the course grade, but a low-stakes grading system based on completion is suggested to help
encourage student usage, while minimizing penalties for mistakes during completion.

The following activities are available in Connect for this chapter:

Case Analysis – HRM: Strategy Linkage
Case Analysis – Strategic Types & HRM Needs
Click & Drag – Directional Strategies & HRM
Click & Drag – HRM Practices
Click & Drag – Strategy Formulation
Click & Drag – Connecting HRM with Strategic Planning

Guidance to Discussion Questions and End of Chapter Sections

Discussion Question 1: Answers may vary widely, and so the instructor may wish to ensure
rationale follows from strategy to human capital. For example, if a defensive strategy is identified,
then human capital should be positioned to focus on defense. Instructors should also look to seek
rationale behind strengths and weaknesses, and note the correct or incorrect identification.

Discussion Question 2: Instructors may look to play devil’s advocate depending on the student’s
response. Larger organizations may have issues with bureaucracy, but have the resources to
support large HR initiatives. Smaller organizations, on the other hand, may be flexible and more
open to change, but not necessarily have the resources.

Discussion Question 3: Students should be able to present rationale that aligns the consistent HR
practices with the strategy, while identifying how the inconsistent practices didn’t align and may
have hurt the organization. An example might be policy on the importance of employees, but poor

Copyright © 2019 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution

without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
 Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, 11e Instructor’s Manual

(or lack of) training and low wages. This question may be integrated with the Self-Assessment
Exercise for more robust classroom discussion.

Discussion Question 4: Students may identify that a) strategic management within the HRM
department leads to leadership recognition of such decisions and thus a role in company strategic
management process, and b) strategic management within HRM department provides the
foundation for the department to contribute.

Discussion Question 5: Students should be able to recall the Competencies of HR Professionals

from Chapter 1 and identify some of these skill sets. Some areas would be college, certification
programs, and experience within companies.

Discussion Question 6: Any number of variables may be identified, some previously discussed in
Chapter 1. Students should be able to rationalize those changes and their impact on HRM functions.
For example, the aging workforce, changes healthcare and minimum wage laws may impact
compensation and benefits practices. Focus should be on their ability to identify trends in the
external environment and apply them to HRM practices.

Exercising Strategy:
Southwest Airlines Comes of Age
1) Responses may vary, but students may identify the pricing strategy, the position (if they
have flown or are familiar with Southwest) or the employee relations. All or some of these
may be acceptable, given question number 2.
2) Students should be able to identify increasing competition and continued labor/employee
relations as issues. Responses to both #1 and #2 will probably be interrelated.
3) Student responses will vary dramatically, however should discuss the different HR practices
discussed within the chapter, with illustrations as to how it would correct the problems.
Students may employ table 2.3 in their responses. Further, they may identify how current
employees may be utilized to solve problems, while developing new approaches to services.

Managing People:
How Should Dell Respond to the HP Challenge
1) The instructor may wish to draw attention to Dell’s strategy of a direct-sales model, which
needed to emphasize both customer service and quality in both consumer and business
sales. It would seem that Dell’s position has been eroded due to competitive pressure and
weakness of customer service and computer quality. Further, leadership has been
stumbling with no apparent leadership bench other than Dell now. Thus, lower price
competition drove prices lower, causing issues with computer quality and customer service.
Further as an example of “with what to compete,” Dell does not seem to have much, as even
with investments in R & D the margins would be hurt.
2) HR could help by initially assessing where internal workforce capabilities reside in the
identified areas of leadership, customer service, R & D and manufacturing. HR could then
provide an employer of choice branding strategy to help attract and retain talent who may
be more interested in working for competitors.

HR in Small Business:
Radio Flyer Rolls Forward
1) Instructors may ask students to explore motivation and engagement issues within the
company, and whether an HR manager would be able to further identify areas to engage

Copyright © 2019 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution

without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
 Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, 11e Instructor’s Manual

and motivate the workforce in the U.S. Instructors may also ask students how the
motivation and engagement activities could then be used to brand the employer as a good
place to work. Responses should focus on those areas.
2) Instructors may wish to point out that large or small, people have relationships within
companies and outsourcing and the subsequent lay-offs are difficult because they a) sever
relationships, and b) cause employees to wonder if they are next. Outsourcing may further
hurt the employer’s brand if manufacturing is tied to the location. HRM could help smooth
the transition by preparing employees for the changes, identifying the appropriate
employees/capabilities, and advising on the process. Student responses should reflect the
above.
3) Students may emphasize the other engagement activities (reduction of carbon footprint) as
another example of how Radio Flyer can leverage its learning and innovation value without
it being directly tied to the outsourced manufacturing capability. Students should then
discuss how HR can help put those out for employees to see and celebrate to increase the
employer of choice brand and morale.

Chapter Cases: Discussion Guidance

Enter the World of Business:

Amazon: From Digital to Brick-and-Mortar?

Instructors should note that at the end of Chapter 2 is a “Look Back” section, which revisits the
Amazon case and asks 3 questions. Suggested guidance for each is as follows:
1) Student responses should reflect the ability to identify how Amazon’s original strategy of
cheap and sales volume aided by the internet seems to be in direct contradiction with brick-
and-mortar. Then, their responses should either note it is not, because that is not how they
have become successful, or, it is, and the response demonstrates the combination of online
and brick-and-mortar. For example, the ability to pick-up food after ordering it online, or
how brick-and-mortar may provide the ability to deliver food faster.
2) Students may identify how Amazon may not have experience within brick-and-mortar, and
thus identify how some of the HR practices specific to the brick-and-mortar management
may not be possessed.
3) Answers may vary greatly, but students should be able to identify either a cost-based or a
differentiation-based strategy.

Competing through Globalization:

Lowering Costs through Offshoring
Instructors may wish to emphasize the impact on both the United States and the other country.
Impacts on wages, employment, cost of living should all be considered. Further, students may
explore the ethical dilemma of the employee training the replacement, as well as if there may be
potential for withholding information, or even sabotage.

Competing through Technology:

HR for the Gig Economy
Instructors may wish to ensure students recognize how the move may be within ADP’s strategic
position and competency. Students may identify how the positive is the need, however, the return
and inconsistency associated with gig work may not generate the revenue necessary.

Copyright © 2019 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution

without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
 Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, 11e Instructor’s Manual

Integrity in Action:
From Hidden Emissions to Zero Emissions: Volkswagen’s Correction
Student responses will vary based on their opinion. Different discussion points may a) identify how
over time the reputation may build as people forget, b) some consumers may not care, c) the move
helps to change some consumers’ minds.

Competing through Sustainability:

IKEA Helps Parents
Traits may include attractive compensation and benefits packages, career development, training
and skill development, education and certification attainment, reputation and brand recognition,
work-life balance and company-specific perquisites such as recreational rooms. Larger discussion
can emphasize how an employer of choice initiative helps companies attract and retain employees,
which are important to organizational strategy. Responses should reflect the effectiveness of Ikea’s
approaches.

Copyright © 2019 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution

without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
 Chapter 2
Strategic Human Resource
Management

©McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Authorized only for instructor use in the classroom. No reproduction or further distribution permitted without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
 Learning Objectives
LO 2-1 Describe the differences between strategy formulation
and strategy implementation.
LO 2-2 List the components of the strategic management
process.
LO 2-3 Discuss the role of the HRM function in strategy
formulation.
LO 2-4 Describe the linkages between HRM and strategy
formulation.
LO 2-5 Discuss the more popular typologies of generic
strategies and the various HRM practices associated with
each.
LO 2-6 Describe the different HRM issues and practices
associated with various directional strategies.

©McGraw-Hill Education.
 Introduction
Strategic management includes
• Having the goal to deploy and allocate resources for a
competitive advantage
• Integrally involving the HRM function
• Using a business model to create value for customers

©McGraw-Hill Education.
 What Is a Business Model?
Accounting Concepts
Fixed Costs
Variable Costs
Margins
Gross Margin

©McGraw-Hill Education.
 What Is Strategic Management? 1 of 5
Strategic Management
• A process
• An approach to addressing the competitive
challenges an organization faces
• Managing the “pattern or plan that integrates an
organization’s major goals, policies, and action
sequences into a cohesive whole.”
• Developing strategies for achieving the company’s
goals in light of its current environment

LO 2-1

©McGraw-Hill Education.
 What Is Strategic Management? 2 of 5
Strategic HRM
• “The pattern of planned human resource deployments
and activities intended to enable an organization to
achieve its goals.”
• Strategic management is a process to address the
organization’s competitive challenges by integrating
goals, policies and action sequences into a cohesive
whole.

©McGraw-Hill Education.
 What Is Strategic Management? 3 of 5
Components of the Strategic Management
Process
• Strategy Formulation
Strategic planning groups decide on strategy
• Strategy Implementation
Organization follows through on the strategy

LO 2-2
©McGraw-Hill Education.
 Figure 2.2 A Model of the Strategic Management Process

Jump to long description in

appendix
©McGraw-Hill Education.
 What Is Strategic Management? 4 of 5
Linkage Between HRM and the Strategic
Management Process
• Strategic choice
• Where to compete?
• How to compete?
• With what will we compete?

©McGraw-Hill Education.
 What Is Strategic Management? 5 of 5
Role of HRM in Strategy Formulation
• With what will we compete?
• Four levels of integration between HRM and the
strategic management function
• administrative linkage
• one-way linkage
• two-way linkage
• integrative linkage

LO 2-3 and 2-4

©McGraw-Hill Education.
 Figure 2.4 Linkages of Strategic Planning and
HRM

SOURCE: Adapted from K. Golden and V. Ramanujam, “Between a Dream and a Nightmare: On the Integration of the Human Resource Function and the Strategic Business Planning Process,” Human Resource Management 24 (1985), pp. 429–51.
©McGraw-Hill Education.
 Figure 2.5 Strategy Formulation

©McGraw-Hill Education. Adapted from K. Golden and V. Ramanujam, “Between a Dream and a Nightmare,” Human Resource Management 24 (1985), pp. 429–51
 Strategy Formulation

Mission

Goals External

Analysis Internal

Analysis

Strategic Choice

©McGraw-Hill Education.
STRENGTHS
Expanding Liquidity
Operational Efficiency
Broad Range of Services Portfolio
OPPORTUNITIES
Growing Demand for Online Video Table 2.2
Growth in Internet Advertising Market
Inorganic Growth
SWOT
WEAKNESSES Analysis for
Issues with Chinese Government
Dependence on Advertising Segment
Google, Inc.
Loses at YouTube
THREATS
Weak Economic Outlook
Invalid Clicks
Microsoft-Yahoo! Deal
 Strategy Implementation 1 of 12
Strategic implementation requires that
• “An organization has a variety of structural forms and
organizational processes to choose from when
implementing a given strategy”
• Five variables
• organizational structure
• HRM tasks
•task design
•selection, training, and development of people
•reward systems
• types of information and information systems

LO 2-5

©McGraw-Hill Education.
 Figure 2.6 Variables to Be Considered in
Strategy Implementation

Jump to long description in

appendix

©McGraw-Hill Education.
 Strategy Implementation 2 of 12
Vertical Alignment
• HR practices and processes address the strategic
needs of the business.
• The link between strategy and HR practices is
primarily through people.
• Job analysis and design
• Recruitment
• Selection systems
• Training and development programs
• Performance management systems
• Reward systems
• Labor relations programs

©McGraw-Hill Education.
 Figure 2.7 Strategy Implementation

Jump to long description in

appendix

©McGraw-Hill Education.
 Strategy Implementation 3 of 12

HRM Practices
Job Analysis/Design
Recruitment/Selection
Training/Development
Performance Management
Pay Structure/Incentives/Benefits
Labor-Employee Relations

©McGraw-Hill Education.
Random documents with unrelated
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of Attitude
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
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under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Attitude

Author: Hal Clement

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ATTITUDE ***

Attitude
 by Hal Clement

Their captors had a very curious system, a very

curious motivation. The captives were allowed
to—even encouraged to—build devices to bring
about their escape. Only at the last moment,
mysteriously, the captors always stopped them
—

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from

Astounding Science-Fiction September 1943.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Dr. Little woke up abruptly, with a distinct sensation of having just
stepped over a precipice. His eyes flew open and were greeted by the
sight of a copper-colored metal ceiling a few feet above; it took him
several seconds to realize that it was keeping its distance, and that
he was not falling either toward or away from it. When he did, a
grimace of disgust flickered across his face; he had lived and slept
through enough days and nights in interstellar space to be
accustomed to weightlessness. He had no business waking up like a
cadet on his first flight, grasping for the nearest support—he had no
business waking up at all, in these surroundings! He shook his head;
his mind seemed to be working on slow time, and his pulse, as he
suddenly realized as the pounding in his temples forced itself on his
awareness, must be well over a hundred.
This was not his room. The metal of the walls was different, the light
was different—an orange glow streaming from slender tubes running
along the junction of wall and ceiling. He turned his head to take in
the rest of the place, and an agonizing barrage of pins and needles
shot the length of his body. An attempt to move his arms and legs
met with the same result; but he managed to bend his neck enough
to discover that he was enveloped to the shoulders in a sacklike affair
bearing all the ear-marks of a regulation sleeping bag. The number
stenciled on the canvas was not his own, however.
In a few minutes he found himself able to turn his head freely and
proceeded to take advantage of the fact by examining his
surroundings. He found himself in a small chamber, walled completely
with the coppery alloy. It was six-sided, like the cells in a bee-hive;
the only opening was a circular hatchway in what Little considered
the ceiling—though, in a second-order flight, it might as well have
been a floor or wall. There was no furniture of any description. The
walls were smooth, lacking even the rings normally present to
accommodate the anchoring snaps of a sleeping bag. There was light
shining through the grille which covered the hatchway, but from
where he was Little could make out no details through the bars.
He began to wriggle his toes and fingers, ignoring as best he could
the resulting sensations; and in a few minutes he found himself able
to move with little effort. He lay still a few minutes longer, and then
unsnapped the top fasteners of the bag. The grille interested him,
and he was becoming more and more puzzled as to his whereabouts.
He had no recollection of any unusual events; he had been checking
over the medical stores, he was sure, but he couldn't recall retiring to
his room afterward. What had put him to sleep? And where had he
awakened?
He grasped the top of the bag and peeled it off, being careful to keep
hold of it. He started to roll it up and paused in astonishment. A
cloud of dust, fine as smoke, was oozing from the fibers of the cloth
with each motion, and hanging about the bag like an atmosphere. He
sniffed at it cautiously and started coughing; the stuff was dry, and
tickled his throat unpleasantly. There could be only one explanation;
the bag had been drifting in open space for a length of time sufficient
to evaporate every trace of moisture from its fibers. He unrolled it
again and looked at the stenciled number—GOA-III-NA12-422. The
first three groups confirmed his original belief that the bag had
belonged to the Gomeisa; the last was a personal number indicating
the identity of the former owner, but Little could not remember
whose number it was. The fact that it had been exposed to the void
was not reassuring.
Dismissing that phase of the problem for the moment, the doctor
rolled the bag into a tight bundle. He was drifting weightless midway
between ceiling and floor, almost in the center of the room; the
hatchway was in one of the six corners of the ceiling. Little hurled the
bundle in the opposite direction. It struck the far corner and
rebounded without much energy; air friction brought it to a halt a few
feet from the wall. The doctor drifted more slowly in the direction of
the grating. His throw had been accurate enough to send him within
reach of it; he caught hold of one of the bars and drew himself as
close as possible.
Any lingering doubt that might have remained in his still befuddled
brain as to whether or not he were still on board the Gomeisa was
driven away as he caught his first glimpse through the grille. It
opened—or would have opened had it been unlocked—onto a
corridor which extended in two directions as far as the doctor's
limited view could reach. The hallway was about thirty feet square,
but there its orthodox characteristics terminated. It had been built
with a sublime disregard for any possible preferred "up" or "down"
direction. Hatches opened into all four sides; those opposite Little's
station were circular, like his own, while those in the "side" walls were
rectangular. From a point beside each opening, a solidly braced metal
ladder extended to the center of the corridor, where it joined a heavy
central pillar plentifully supplied with grips for climbing. Everything
was made of the copperlike material, and the only light came from
the orange-glow tubes set in the corners of the corridor.

Dr. Little maintained his position for several minutes, looking and
listening; but no sound reached his ears, and he could perceive
nothing through the gratings which covered the other hatchways. He
also gave a few moments' attention to the lock on his own grating,
which evidently was operated from either side; but it was designed to
be opened by a complicated key, and the doctor had no instruments
for examining its interior. With a sigh he hooked one arm about a bar
of the grating and relaxed, trying to reason out the chain of events
which had led up to these peculiar circumstances.
The Gomeisa had been a heavy cruiser, quite capable of putting up a
stiff defense to any conceivable attack. Certainly no assault could
have been so sudden and complete that the enemy would be in a
position to use hand weapons on the crew before an alarm was
raised—the idea was absurd; and fixed mount projectors of any type
would have left more of a mark on the doctor than he could find at
this moment. Furthermore, the ship had been, at the last time of
which Little had clear recollection, crossing the relatively empty gulf
between the Galaxy proper and the Greater Magellanic Cloud—a most
unpropitious place for a surprise attack. The star density in that
region is of the order of one per eight thousand cubic parsecs,
leaving a practically clear field for detector operations. No, an attack
did not seem possible; and yet Little had been deprived of
consciousness without warning, had been removed from the Gomeisa
in that state, and had awakened within a sleeping bag which showed
too plainly the fact that part, at least, of the cruiser had been open to
space for some time.
Was he in a base on some planet of one of those few stars of the
"desert," or in some ship of unheard-of design? His weightlessness
disposed of the first idea before it was formulated; and the doctor
glanced at his belt. Through the glass window in its case, he could
see the filament of his personal equalizer glowing faintly; he was in a
ship, in second-order flight, and the little device had automatically
taken on the task of balancing the drive forces which would, without
it, act unequally on each element in his body. As a further check, he
felt in his pocket and drew out two coins, one of copper and one of
silver. He held them nearly together some distance from his body,
released them carefully so as not to give them velocities of their own,
and withdrew his hand. Deprived of the equalizer field, they began to
drift slowly in a direction parallel to the corridor, the copper bit
moving at a barely perceptible crawl, the silver rapidly gaining. The
corridor, then, was parallel to the ship's line of flight; and the coins
had fallen forward, since the silver was more susceptible to the
driving field action.

Little pushed off from the ceiling and retrieved the coins, restoring
them to his otherwise empty pocket. He had not been carrying
instruments or weapons, and had no means of telling whether or not
he had been searched while unconscious. Nothing was missing, but
he had possessed nothing worth taking. The fact that he was locked
in might be taken to indicate that he was a prisoner, and prisoners
are customarily relieved of any possessions which prove helpful in an
escape. Only beings who had had contact with humanity would
logically be expected to identify which of the numerous gadgets
carried by the average man are weapons; but the design of this craft
bore no resemblance to that of any race with which Little was
acquainted. He still possessed his wrist watch and mechanical pencil,
so the doctor found himself unable to decide even the nature of his
captors, far less their intentions.
Possibly he would find out something when—and if—he was fed. He
realized suddenly that he was both hungry and thirsty. He had been
unconscious long enough for his watch to run down.
Little's pulse had dropped to somewhere near normal, he noticed, as
he drifted beside the hatch. He wondered again what had knocked
him out without leaving any mark or causing some sensation; then
gave up this line of speculation in favor of the more immediate one
advocated by his empty stomach. He fell asleep again before he
reached any solution. He dreamed that someone had moved Rigel to
the other side of the Galaxy, and the navigator couldn't find his way
home. Very silly, he thought, and went on dreaming it.
A gonglike note, as penetrating as though his own skull had been
used as the bell, woke him the second time. He was alert at once,
and instantly perceived the green, translucent sphere suspended a
few feet away. For a moment he thought it might be one of his
captors; then his nose told him differently. It was ordinary lime juice,
as carried by practically every Earth cruiser. A moment's search
served to locate, beside the hatchway, the fine nozzle through which
the liquid had been impelled. The doctor had no drinking tube, but he
had long since mastered the trick of using his tongue in such
circumstances without allowing any other part of his face to touch the
liquid. It was a standard joke to confront recruits, on their first free
flight, with the same problem. If nose or cheek touched the sphere,
surface tension did the rest.
Little returned to the door and took up what he intended to be a
permanent station there. He was waiting partly for some sign of
human beings, partly for evidence of his captors, and, more and
more as time wore on, for some trace of solid food. He waited in vain
for all three. At intervals, a pint or so of lime juice came through the
jet and formed a globe in the air beside it; nothing else. Little had
always liked the stuff, but his opinion was slowly changing as more
and more of it was forced on him. It was all there was to drink, and
the air seemed to be rather dry; at any rate, he got frightfully thirsty
at what seemed unusually short intervals.
He wound his watch and discovered that the "feedings" came at
intervals of a little over four hours. He had plenty of chance to make
observations, and nothing else to observe; it was not long before he
was able to predict within a few seconds the arrival of another drink.
Later, he wished he hadn't figured it out; the last five or ten minutes
of each wait were characterized by an almost agonizing thirst, none
the less painful for being purely mental. Sometimes he slept, but he
was always awake at the zero minute.
With nothing to occupy his mind but fruitless speculation, it is not
surprising that he lost all track of the number of feedings. He knew
only that he had slept a large number of times, had become deathly
sick of lime juice, and was beginning to suffer severely from the lack
of other food, when a faint suggestion of weight manifested itself. He
looked at his equalizer the instant he noticed the situation and found
it dark. The ship had cut its second-order converters, and was
applying a very slight first-order acceleration in its original line of
flight—the barely perceptible weight was directed toward what Little
had found to be the stern. Its direction changed by a few degrees on
several occasions, but was restored each time in a few seconds. The
intensity remained constant, as nearly as Little could tell, for several
hours.
Then it increased, smoothly but swiftly, to a value only slightly below
that of Earthly gravity. The alterations in direction became more
frequent, but never sudden or violent enough to throw Little off his
feet—he was now standing on the rear wall, which had become the
floor. Evidently the ship's pilot, organic or mechanical, well deserved
the name. For nearly half an hour by the watch, conditions remained
thus; then the drive was eased through an arc of ninety degrees, the
wall containing the hatchway once more became the ceiling, and
within a few minutes the faintest of tremors was perceptible through
the immense hull and the direction of gravity became constant. If this
indicated a landing, Little mentally took off his hat to the entity at the
controls.
The doctor found himself badly placed for observation. The hatch was
about four feet above the highest point he could reach, and even
jumping was not quite sufficient to give him a hold on the bars. He
estimated that he had nearly all of his normal hundred and ninety
pounds Earth weight, and lack of proper food for the last several days
had markedly impaired his physical powers. It was worse than
tantalizing; for suddenly, for the first time since he had regained
consciousness in this strange spot, he heard sounds from outside.
They were distorted by echoes, sounding and reverberating along the
corridor outside, and evidently originated at a considerable distance,
but they were definitely and unmistakably the voices of human
beings.
For minutes the doctor waited. The voices came no nearer, but on the
other hand they did not go any farther away. He called out, but
apparently the group was too large and making too much noise of its
own to hear him. The chatter went on. No words were
distinguishable, but there was a prevailing overtone of excitement
that not even the metallic echoes of the great hull could cover. Little
listened, and kept his eyes fixed on the hatchway.
He heard nothing approach, but suddenly there was a faint click as
the lock opened. The grille swung sharply inward until it was
perpendicular to the wall in which it was set; then the side bars of its
frame telescoped outward until they clicked against the floor. The
crossbars separated simultaneously, still maintaining equal distances
from each other, and a moment after the hatch had opened a metal
ladder extended from it to the floor of the room. It took close
examination to see the telescopic joints just below each rung. The
metal tubing must be paper-thin, Little thought, to permit such
construction.

The doctor set foot on the ladder without hesitation. Presumably, his
captors were above, and wanted him to leave the room in which he
was imprisoned. In this wish he concurred heartily; he was too
hungry to object affectively, anyway. He made his way up the ladder
to the corridor, forcing his shoulders through the narrow opening.
The human voices were still audible, but they faded into the
background of his attention as he examined the beings grouped
around the hatch.
There were five of them. They bore some resemblance to the
nonhumans of Tau Ceti's first planet, having evidently evolved from a
radially symmetric, star-fishlike form to a somewhat more specialized
type with differentiated locomotive and prehensile appendages. They
were five-limbed and headless, with a spread of about eight feet. The
bodies were nearly spherical; and if the arms had been only a little
thicker at the base it would have been impossible to tell where body
left off and arm began. The tube feet of the Terrestrial starfish were
represented by a cluster of pencil-thick tendrils near the tip of each
arm and leg—the distinction between these evidently lying in the fact
that three of the appendages were slightly thicker and much blunter
at the tips than the two which served as arms. The tendrils on the
"legs" were shorter and stubbier, as well. The bodies, and the
appendages nearly to their tips, were covered with a mat of spines,
each several inches in length, lying for the most part nearly flat
against the skin. These either grew naturally, or had been combed
away from the central mouth and the five double-pupiled eyes
situated between the limb junctions.
The beings wore metal mesh belts twined into the spines on their
legs, and these supported cases for what were probably tools and
weapons. Their "hands" were empty; evidently they did not fear an
attempted escape or attack on the doctor's part. They made no
sound except for the dry rustle of their spiny armor as they moved.
In silence they closed in around Little, while one waved his flexible
arms toward one end of the passageway. A gentle shove from
behind, as the doctor faced in the indicated direction, transmitted the
necessary command, and the group marched toward the bow. Two of
the silent things stalked in front, two brought up the rear; and at the
first opportunity, the other swarmed up one of the radial ladders and
continued his journey directly over Little's head, swinging along by
the handholds on the central beam.
As they advanced, the voices from ahead grew slowly louder.
Occasional words were now distinguishable. The speakers, however,
were much farther away than the sound of their voices suggested,
since the metal-walled corridor carried the sounds well if not
faithfully. Nearly three hundred yards from Little's cell, a vertical shaft
of the same dimensions as the corridor interrupted the latter. The
voices were coming from below. Without hesitation, the escort swung
over the lip of the shaft and started down the ladder which took up is
full width; Little followed. On the way, he got some idea of the size of
the ship he was in. Looking up, he saw the mouths of two other
corridors entering the shaft above the one he had traversed; at the
level of the second, another hallway joined it from the side. Evidently
he was not near the center line of the craft; there were at least two,
and possibly three, tiers of longitudinal corridors. He had already
seen along one of those corridors; the ship must be over fifteen
hundred feet in length. Four vessels the size of the Gomeisa could
have used the immense hull for a hangar, and left plenty of elbow
room for the servicing crews.
Below him, the shaft debouched into a chamber whose walls were
not visible from Little's position. His eyes, however, which had
become exceedingly tired of the endless orange radiance which
formed the ship's only illumination, were gladdened at the sight of
what was unquestionably daylight leaking up from the room. As he
descended, two of the walls became visible—the shaft opened near
one corner—and in one of them he finally saw an air lock, with both
valves open. He went hastily down the remaining few feet and
stopped as he touched the floor. His gaze took in on the instant the
twenty-yard square chamber, which seemed to occupy a slight
outcrop of the hull, and stopped at the corner farthest from the air
lock. Penned in that corner by a line of the starfish were thirty-eight
beings; and Little needed no second glance to identify the crew of
the Gomeisa. They recognized him simultaneously; the chatter
stopped, to be replaced by a moment's silence and then a shout of
"Doc!" from nearly two score throats. Little stared, then strode
forward and through the line of guards, which opened for him. A
moment later he was undergoing a process of handshaking and back-
slapping that made him wonder. He didn't think he had been that
popular.

Young Captain Albee was the first to speak coherently.

"It's good to see you again, sir. Everyone but you was accounted for,
and we'd begun to think they must have filed you away in
formaldehyde for future reference. Where were you?"
"You mean I was the only one favored with solitary confinement?"
asked Little. "I woke up in a cell upstairs, about two thirds of the way
back, with less company than Jonah. I could see several other sets of
bars from my stateroom door, but there was nothing behind any of
them. I haven't seen or heard any living creature but myself since
then. I can't even remember leaving, or being removed from the
Gomeisa. Does anyone know what happened?"
"How is it that you don't?" asked Albee. "We were attacked; we had a
fight, of a sort. Did you sleep through it? That doesn't seem
possible."
"I did, apparently. Give me the story."
"There's not much to give. I was about to go off watch when the
detectors picked up a lump that seemed highly magnetic, and
something over eighty million tons mass. We hove to, and came
alongside it while Tine look a couple of pictures of the Galaxy and the
Cloud so that we could find it again. I sent out four men to take
samples, and the instant the outer door was opened these things"—
he jerked his head toward the silent guards—"froze it that way with a
jet of water on the hinge and jamb. They were too close to use the
heavy projectors, and we still had no idea there was a ship inside the
meteoric stuff. They were in spacesuits, and got into the lock before
we could do anything. By the time we had our armor on they had
burned down the inner lock door and were all through the ship. The
hand-to-hand fighting was shameful; I thought I knew all the football
tricks going, and I'd taught most of them to the boys, but they had
every last one of us pinned down before things could get under way.
I never saw anything like it.
"I still can't understand what knocked you out. They used no
weapons—that annoyed me—and if you didn't put a suit on yourself I
don't see how you lived when they opened up your room. The air
was gone before they started going over the ship."
"I think I get it," said Little slowly. "Geletane. Four cylinders of it. Did
you broadcast a general landing warning when you cut the second-
order to examine that phony Bonanza? You didn't, of course, since
we weren't in a gravity field of any strength. And the 'meteor' was
magnetic, which made no difference to our berylium hull, but made
plenty to the steel geletane cylinders, one of which I had unclamped
for a pressure test and had left in the tester. I went on about my
business, and the field yanked the cylinder out of the tester and
against the wall. It didn't make enough noise to attract my attention,
because I was in the next room. With the door open. And the valve
cracked just a trifle—just enough. I didn't need a suit when these
starfish opened my room; I must have been as stiff as a frame
member. I had all the symptoms of recovery from suspended
animation when I woke up, too, but I never thought of interpreting
them that way. The next ship I'm in, see if I don't get them to rig up
an automatic alarm to tell what the second-order fields are doing—"
"You might also put your geletane cylinders back in the clamps when,
and if, this happy state of affairs eventuates," remarked Goldthwaite,
the gloomy technical sergeant. "May I ask what happens now,
captain?"
"I'm afraid it isn't up to me, Goldy," returned Albee. "But I don't
suppose they plan to keep us in this corner indefinitely."

Probably they didn't, but Albee was beginning to doubt his own
statement before anything else happened. The sun had risen so that
it was no longer shining directly into the port, and the great chamber
had grown darker as the shadow of the vast interstellar flier crept
down and away from its outer wall, when a new party came through
the air lock from outside. Two of the pentapods came first, and came
to a halt on either side of the inner door; after them crept painfully
the long, many-legged, gorgeously furred body of a Vegan. Its
antennae were laid along its back, blending with the black and yellow
stripes: the tiny, heavily lidded eyes opened wide in the effort to see
in what, to the native of the blue star, was nearly total darkness. The
line of guards penning in the Earthmen opened and formed a double-
walled lane between humans and Vegan.
Albee stepped forward, and at the same moment the interior lights of
the chamber flashed on. The Vegan relaxed for a moment as its eyes
readjusted themselves; then its antennae snapped erect and began
to sway slowly in the simple patterns of the sign language of its race.
"I assume that some of you, at least, understand me," it said. "Our
captors, having learned a little of my language in the months I have
spent here, hope to save themselves trouble by using me as an
interpreter. Do you wish to acknowledge acquaintance with my
speech, or do you think it better to act as though our races had never
encountered each other? I was not captured near my home planet,
so you might get away with such an act."
Most of the Earthmen had some knowledge of Vegan speech—the
two systems are near neighbors, and enjoy lively commercial
relations—and all looked to Albee for a decision. He wasted little time
in thought; it was evident that they would be better off in
communication with their captors than otherwise.
"We might as well talk," he answered, forming the signs as well as he
could with his arms. "We should like to find out all you can tell us
about these creatures, and it is unlikely that we would be given the
chance to communicate secretly with you. Do you know where we
are, and can you tell us anything about this planet and its people?"
"I know very little," was the answer. "I believe this world is
somewhere in the Cloud, because the only time one of us was ever
outside the fort at night he could see the Galaxy. Neither I nor my
companions can tell you anything about the planet's own
characteristics, for we have been kept inside the base which these
creatures have established here ever since our capture. We move too
slowly in this gravity to escape from them, and, anyway, the sun has
not sufficient ultraviolet light to keep us alive. Our captors, we are
sure, are not natives of the planet; they seldom venture outside the
walls themselves, and always return before nightfall. Furthermore,
they live on provisions brought by their interstellar ships, rather than
native food.
"They have not told us the reason for our capture. They allow us to
prepare everything we need for existence and comfort, but every
time we try to divert supplies to the production of weapons, they
seem to know it. They let us nearly finish, and then take it away from
us. They never get angry at our attempts, either. We don't
understand them."
"If they are so careful of your well being, why do they try to drive us
crazy on a steady diet of lime juice?" interrupted Little.
"I could not say; but I will ask, if you wish," returned the Vegan. He
swung his fusiform body laboriously around until he was facing one
of the creatures who had accompanied him to the ship, and began
semaphoring the question. The men watched silently; those who had
not understood the preceding conversation were given the gist of it in
brief whispers by their fellows. Little had not had a chance to ask if
the others had been fed as he had been; their silent but intense
interest in the answer to his question indicated that they had. The
chronic slowness of Vegan communication rendered them all the
more impatient to know the reason, as the black and yellow creature
solemnly waved at the motionless pentapod.
There was a brief pause before the latter began to answer. When it
did, the Earthman understood why an interpreter was necessary,
even though both sides knew the same language. The arms of the
creature were flexible enough in front-to-rear motion, as are human
fingers; but their relatively great width hampered them in side-to-side
waves, and put them at a severe disadvantage in using the Vegan
language. The Vegan himself must have had difficulty in
comprehending; the Earthman could not make out a single gesture.

Finally the interpreter turned back to the human listeners and

reported the result of his questioning:
"The green liquid is all that our captors found in the canteens of your
space armor. Since there was a large supply of it on your ship, they
assumed it was the principal constituent of your diet. They have,
however, salvaged practically all of the contents of your vessel, and
you will be allowed shortly to obtain your foodstuffs, cooking
equipment, and personal belongings, with the natural exception of
weapons. I might add, from my own experience, that their
unfamiliarity with your weapons will not help you much if you attempt
to smuggle any from the stores. We never could get away with it."
"What surprises me," remarked Albee in English, "is that we are
allowed at the supplies at all. These creatures must be extremely
confident in their own abilities to take a chance."
"From what you told me of the hand-to-hand fighting, such
confidence may be justified," remarked Little with a grin. "Didn't you
say that they more or less wiped up the floor with the boys?"
"True," admitted the captain, "but there's no need to rub it in. Why
are they so stuck up about it?"
"Stuck up? I was getting a strong impression that, as a race, they
must be unusually modest." Albee stared at the doctor, but could not
get him to amplify the remark. The Vegan interrupted further
conversation, attracting their attention with a flourish of its long
antennae.
"I am told that your supplies have been unloaded through another
port, and are lying on the ground outside the fort. You are to
accompany me and the guards to the pile, and take all the food you
wish—you may make several trips, if necessary, to get it all to your
quarters in the fort."
"Where is this fort, in relation to the ship?" asked Albee. "What sort
of land is around it?"
"The ship is lying parallel to the near wall of the fort, about two
hundred yards from it. This air lock is near the nose of the ship, and
almost opposite the main valves of the fort. In front of the ship the
ground is level for about a quarter of a mile, then dips down into
what seems to be a heavily forested river valley. I don't know what
lies beyond, in that direction; this sunlight is too dim for me to make
out the details of objects more than a mile or two distant. I do get
the impression of hills or mountains—you will be able to see for
yourselves, outside. Your eyes are adapted to this light.
"In the other direction, toward the stern, the level plain extends as
far as I can see, without any cover. Anyway, you'd be between the
ship and the fort for the first five hundred yards, if you went that
way, and could easily be cornered. I warn you again that these
creatures will outguess you, but—good luck. I've told you all I know."
"I guess we might as well go along and get our stuff, then,"
remarked Albee to his crew. "Don't do anything rash without orders.
We'll wait until we see how the supplies are arranged. Maybe we'll
have to move some apparatus to get at the food."
The black bodies of the guards had ringed them, almost statuesque
in their motionlessness, during the conversation. As the Vegan
concluded his speech, he had turned toward the lock; Albee had
spoken as the men began to follow. The air of the planet was
evidently similar to that of Earth, Vega Five, and the home planet of
the pentapods, since both valves of the air lock were open. It had the
fresh-air smell which the filtered atmosphere of a spaceship always
seems to lack, and the men almost unconsciously squared their
shoulders and expanded their chests as they passed down the ramp
in the wake of the heavily moving Vegan. The scene before them
caught all eyes; the interpreter's description had been correct, but
inadequate.
The hull of the interstellar cruiser curved high above their heads. The
lock chamber occupied a relatively tiny gondola that projected far
enough, from its location well to one side of the keel, to touch the
ground. The outside of the vessel gleamed with a brilliant silvery
luster, in contrast to the coppery glow of the interior. The fort, directly
in front of them, was an imposing structure of stone composition half
a mile in length and two hundred feet high on the side facing them.
The walls were smoothly polished, and completely lacking in
windows.
To the left, beyond the nose of the craft, the level meadow continued
for several hundred yards, and then dipped abruptly downward. As
the Vegan had intimated, the background was filled by a range of
rugged-looking mountains, the nearest several miles away. The sun
was now nearly overhead, thereby robbing the landscape of the
shadows that would have given the Earthman a better idea of its
relief. Albee wasted little time looking for what he wouldn't be able to
see; he strode on toward the great gate of the fort. In front of the
portals were several large heaps of articles, and even at this distance
some of them could be recognized as pieces of equipment from the
unfortunate Gomeisa. The guards closed around the group of human
beings and proceeded at the pace set by the captain, leaving the
Vegan prisoner to follow at his own speed.
It was evident that a thorough job of looting had been done on the
Terrestrial warship. Food and medical supplies, bunks, kitchen
equipment, blankets and miscellaneous items of field apparatus were
included in the half dozen heaps laid out beneath the glistening black
walls. Mixed in with the rest were hand tools and weapons, and
Albee, in spite of the Vegan's warning, began promptly to make
plans. At his orders, each of the men dragged a shoulder pack out of
one of the piles and began filling it with containers of food and drink.
The pile of lime-juice bottles was pointedly ignored until Albee,
glancing at it, noticed that one case of bottles was not green in color.
He went over for a closer look, then extracted one of the plastic
containers, opened it and sniffed. His voice, as he turned to the
watching men, was just a little louder than usual:
"Would anyone know where they found this stuff?" His eyes
wandered over the faces of the crew. It was Sergeant Goldthwaite
who finally answered, hesitantly.
"They might have looked between the bulkheads at the cap end of
the storage room, cap'n. It was pretty cool there, and seemed like a
good place—"
"Not too easy to visit often, in flight," remarked the captain
quizzically.
"I never visited it, sir—you can see it hasn't been touched. But you
said we would probably touch at Ardome, and I was thinking it might
be possible to get rid of it there."
"It probably would. But they have good customs inspectors, and war
vessels aren't immune to search. I shudder to think of what would
have happened to our reputation if we had made Ardome. Consider
yourself responsible for this stuff."

The sergeant gulped. The case of liquor weighed eighty pounds, and
could not possibly be crammed into a shoulder pack. He realized
gloomily that the captain had inflicted about the only possible
punishment, under the circumstances. He put five of the bottles into
his pack and began a series of experiments to find out which way his
arms went most easily around the case. A small group of pentapods
regarded the struggle with interest, their spines waving slowly like a
field of wheat in a breeze.
Albee watched, too, for a moment; then he went on, without altering
the tone of his words:
"Most of you should have a decent supply of food by now. This planet
probably has good water, since the vegetation and clouds appear
normal. We should be able to live here without the aid of our
generous captors, but we may have some difficulty in avoiding their
well-meant ministrations. The Vegan said his people had never been
able to fool these pincushions into letting them make or steal a
weapon. Remembering that, use every caution in carrying out the
orders I am about to give.
"When I have stopped talking, each of you count thirty, slowly,
meanwhile working your way toward the handiest tool or weapon in
the neighborhood. When you reach thirty, dive for the object of your
choice and do your best to get to that forest. You have all, except the
doctor, had some experience of the rough-and-tumble tactics of these
creatures; the problem, I should say, is to get past them without a
fight and into the open. I think we can outrun, on the level, any
invertebrate alive. If someone is caught, don't stay to help him; right
now, I want to get at least a small crew away from here, where we
can work out at our leisure rescue plans for the unlucky ones. Don't
all try to get guns; we'll find cutting tools just as useful in the woods.
You may start counting."
Without haste, Albee counted over the contents of his pack, swung it
to his shoulders. The guards, spines twitching slowly, watched.
Reiser, the senior navigator, was helping one of Goldthwaite's
engineers drag the ship's electric stove from a pile which chanced
also to contain several ion pistols. Little picked up and tested briefly a
hand flash, conscious of the fact that guards were watching him
closely. The action had some purpose; the flash was almost exactly
similar to the pistols. He tightened the straps of his own pack—and
someone reached the count of thirty. Albee had chosen that number
to give the men time enough to prepare, but not enough to get very
far out of pace in the counting.
Almost as one, the human beings turned and sprinted for the bow of
the warship. Almost simultaneously, the guards went into action,
each singling out a man and going to work. Little, who had not
experienced the tactics of the creatures, managed to avoid them for
perhaps five yards; then one of them twined its tendrils about his
wrist and literally climbed up onto his back. A moment later, the
doctor was face down on the grass, arms and legs held motionless in
the grip of the clumsy-looking, stubby limbs. The spines of his captor
were not stiff enough to penetrate clothing or skin, but their pressure
on the back of his neck was unpleasant. He managed to turn his
head sufficiently to see what was going on.

Four men, who had been at the pile nearest the forest, had moved
fast enough to avoid contact with their guards. They were now
running rapidly toward the declivity; none of the creatures was in
pursuit. Albee and a dozen others were practically clear, but one of
these was pulled down as Little watched. One man found himself in a
relatively clear space and made a dash. Guards closed in from either
side, but realized apparently that they were not fast enough to corner
the fellow. They turned back to other prey, and the runner was
allowed to escape.
Goldthwaite had been in a bad position, with almost the whole group
to fight through on his way to the woods. Apparently he never
thought of disobeying orders, and going the other way. He dropped
the case he had been trying to lift, seized a bottle from it with each
hand and headed into the mêlée. Curiously enough, he was the only
one using weapons; the guards, festooned with implements snapped
to their leg belts, fought with their bare "hands," and the men all
ignored their guns and knives in the effort to run. Most of the
pentapods at the sergeant's end of the group were engaged, and he
got nearly halfway through the group before he was forced to use his
clubs.
Then a guard saw him and closed in. Goldthwaite was handicapped
by the creature's lack of a head, but he swung anyway. The blow
landed between the two upper limbs, just above one eye. It didn't
seem to bother the pentapod, whose flexible legs absorbed most of
the shock, and the tough plastic of the bottle remained unbroken; but
the stopper, urged by interior pressure and probably not closed
tightly enough—it may have been the bottle investigated by the
captain—blew out, soaking the sergeant's sleeve and jacket with
liquor. This particular fluid had some of the characteristics of Earthly
champagne, and had been considerably shaken up.
Another of its qualities was odor. This, like the taste of Roquefort,
required a period of conditioning before one could become fond of it;
and this may have been the reason that the guard fell back for a
moment as the liquid foamed out. It is more likely, however, that he
was merely startled to find an object his people had decided was
harmless suddenly exhibit the characteristics of a projectile weapon.
Whatever the reason, he hesitated a split second before pressing the
attack; and in that moment the sergeant was past.
Ahead of him, three or four more guards—all who remained
unoccupied—converged to meet him. Without waiting for them to
charge, Goldthwaite swung the other bottle a few times and hurled it
into their midst. He was a man quick to profit by experience.
Unfortunately, so were the guards. They saw the liquid which had
soaked into the sergeant's clothes, and needed no further assurance
that it was harmless. They paid no attention to the flying bottle until
it landed.
This flask was stoppered more tightly and did not blow out. The
pentapods, who had either seen the behavior of the first bottle or
had been told of it, decided that the latest arrival was a different sort
of weapon and prudently changed course, avoiding the spot where it
lay, and the sergeant, with no such scruples, passed over it like a
racehorse. It was several seconds before the guards overcame their
nervousness over this new form of delayed-action bomb, and before
they could circle around it, Goldthwaite was well out of reach across
the plateau. By that time the action was over.