The Duplicators
The Duplicators is an expansion of the novella Lord of the Uffts.
A planet where everyone has a machine which can duplicate anything would be the wealthiest world in the galaxy, right? Wrong. And unless the hapless voyager who's trapped on the planet can find a solution to its problem, his voyaging will be over -- permanently.
No Truce with Terra
From: The Shaldron Race
To: The Human Race
Greetings:
Your presence has been noted and the reason for your visit analyzed by our instruments. We have, therefore, taken the liberty of selecting one of your party for first contact, one whom we feel is best suited to grasp the motivations of both our races and arrange for future group contacts.
Peter Collard stared at the message with a cold feeling of foreboding. He felt pity for the poor devil.
"Who is this selected contact:"
"Ah now," Dyson became suddenly interested in the papers on the table. 'Well, I'm sorry and all that, but, as a matter of fact, they want you."