Vegetation

Now that I'm actually reading the cards.

So I think Vegetation is the stronger way to play it.

But I think the TS version is still just as good.

Or like maybe just a little bit weaker, maybe.

To the west, flat, wide river basins that gradually rise into long, smooth ridges, like the Yakima Ridge, before turning into the steep mountain foothills.

Vegetation-wise, to the east and the south, deep, rich, wind-blown silt topsoil from glaciers fuel dense green wheat fields and wild grasslands.

To the west, the volcanic ash soils combine with heavy river irrigation, creating one of the world's most productive fruit orchards and vineyards regions.

The scab lands, on the other hand, there is no transition zone.

But the majority of people wouldn't move to an undeveloped planet You couldn't send ordinary citizens as pioneers For one thing they wouldn't want to go For another the new community wouldn't last long if you forced them to go—the average person had neither the attitudes nor the physique needed to make over a wilderness.

The problem was to find people who would create a community on a new planet and develop an integrated society there This had meant rigid selection careful psychological preparation and a terrifically expensive transportation system to get the people there and keep them supplied And the job had to be done soon Economists predicted that thirty years were left on earth under present standards maybe fifty If the population couldn't be thinned out one way by then it would have to be done by another! For six years now Rod had worked on the job of establishing a self-supporting colony on Venus Three different colonies had been started and each one had died out in less than two years Resignations would come in slowly at first and then in a rush until only twenty or thirty people would be left Of which the majority would be the short term scientific teams By the terms of the colonist contracts No man could be left on venus More than a month after his resignation So the bulk of the two colonies Had simply had to be shipped back To earth and plans made for Another try And now the third Colony was quitting Rushing home Leaving nothing On the jungle Planet but A few small Clearings Soon to Be taken Over by the Vegetation Several times In the last year rod had thought of volunteering Himself But he knew It for a futile gesture He wasn't five hundred Men He didn't even Have the special Skills or Physique That Were Needed His gloomy Thoughts were Interrupted by the arrival of the men Biddington Was First Then in twos And threes Came the interviewers All looking like The home team At the half three touchdowns behind And just waiting For their coach If psychologists Made good Colonists Rod Thought There would be A dozen more Volunteers The Arrival of Homer Jameson Brought the Only cheerful Face in the group The project historian Was a young Man Just over Thirty and Considerably over Six feet He wore the Expression of a man Who was itching To do something Jamie had Never really Been busy yet On the project The Colonies had Died out so Quickly that his work had been mostly clerical and he'd had to fill the time the best he could So far he had Done it by Making up improbable Contests of skill For drinks With such a Weird assortment Of shifting Rules and scoring That he hadn't Paid for a drink Since he arrived He made a valuable Contribution to the project however Since he helped To keep the Group's mind Off their troubles Apart of the Time Rod genuinely Liked jamie and Expected to miss Him strongly when Venus became Self supporting To the point Where the Historian Would have completed His work in residence When they were All seated rod Leaned across his Desk and said i can see you all know why we're here to begin with i am not going to accuse anyone of mistakes Each of you is the Best possible man In the country For his job If you weren't You wouldn't be Here I Wouldn't have Asked for you And general Carlson wouldn't have kept you So there's Nothing to feel Bad about If you Can't do this Work no one Can Self recrimination Is foolish when You've been put On an impossible Problem I Didn't call you Here to bawl You out but To ask you If we should Continue spending Project funds For nothing Jamie raised His eyebrows At this speech But said nothing What do you Mean impossible Problem One of the Interviewers Objected We Know what we Need it's just That we're still Making some Mistakes in Selection that we Haven't corrected "That's right, Rod." Biddington, the project psychologist, took up the dissension.

"We know something is wrong with the selection techniques or in the personnel patterns we consider necessary.

But it's only a problem of finding out what it is.

Mefarik of plants means dosh.

Non-vegetation means something else.

So, for example, what does it mean? What does Ravina Pomp say Mepharik means? Mimache.

Mimache.