office of the Minister for Diplomatic Affairs. A fire
burned there, and already there were many ashes. The carpet and the
chairs of the cabinet officer's sanctum were coated with fine white
dust. As the communicator buzzed again, Captain Bors took a fireplace
tool and stirred the close-packed papers to looseness. They caught and
burned instead of only smouldering.

The communicator buzzed yet again. He brushed off his hands and pressed
the answer-stud.

He said bleakly: "Diplomatic Affairs. Bors speaking."

The communicator relayed a voice from somewhere else with an astonishing
fidelity of tone.

"_Spaceport, sir. A ship just broke out of overdrive. We don't identify
its type. One ship only, sir._"

Bors said grimly;

"You'd recognize a liner. If it's a ship from the Mekinese fleet and
stays alone, it could be coming to receive our surrender. In that case
play for time and notify me."

"_Yes, sir.--One moment! It's calling, sir! Here it is--._"

There was a clicking, and then there came a voice which had the curious
quality of a loudspeaker sound picked up and relayed through another
loudspeaker.

"_Calling ground! Calling ground! Space-yacht_ Sylva _reports arrival
and asks coordinates for landing. Our mass is two hundred tons standard.
Purpose of visit, pleasure-travel._"

A pause. The voice from the spaceport:

"_Sir?_"

Captain Bors said impatiently, "Oh, let him down and see if he knows
anything about the Mekinese. Then advise him to go away at once. Tell
him why."

"_Yes, sir._"

A click. Young Captain Bors returned to his task of burning papers.
These were the confidential records of the Ministry for Diplomatic
Affairs. Captain Bors wore the full-dress uniform of the space navy of
the planet Kandar. It was still neatly pressed but was now smudged with
soot and smeared with ashes. He had burned a great many papers today.
Elsewhere in the Ministry other men were burning other documents. The
other papers were important enough; they were confidential reports from
volunteer- and paid-agents on twenty planets. In the hands of
ill-disposed persons, they could bring about disaster and confusion and
interplanetary tension. But the ones Captain Bors made sure of were
deadly.

He burned papers telling of conditions on Mekin itself. The authors of
such memoranda would be savagely punished if they were found out. Then
there were papers telling of events on Tralee. If it could be said that
he were more