Spacial Delivery: Gordon R. Dickson

Book I of Dilbia. John Tardy has been drafted by Helping Hand, and packed off to Dilbia to locate and rescue the interplanetary contact agency's first envoy, Ty Lamorc. Dilbia, and its unusually intelligent native race, are being wooed by two major galactic powers - and Earth is determined to win their respect and allegiance. But the Dilbians don't seem to be co-operating. In fact, they seem to treat John and his mission as some kind of joke. But there's nothing funny about the consequences if the lovely Ty can't be saved, and it's up to John to get the job done. First, he has to survive a cross-country trek with a particularly large fun-loving Dilbian...Cover art by Tom Kidd.