ng to pay on that item," replied the insurance
man.

"Anyhow," continued Voorhis, "I set down here where we saw the open
spot, an' then of course we were stuck with nothin' to lift off with. It
looked all right. We'd unload our goods, an' if the local crowd couldn't
use them all, why they'd pass the rest on at a profit to themselves. So
we come out to palaver, an' then they won't let us go back in the ship.
We were just lucky my com man had sent out a landing report when it
looked like we piled up, or the Space Force patrol never woulda heard of
us."

"Was there any trouble?" asked Mayne. "Any unnecessary hostility?"

Voorhis considered, rubbing the back of his head thoughtfully.

"Well ... I suppose, lookin' at it their way, they coulda been a lot
rougher. A couple of punches got thrown, an' one of my boys got a spear
busted over his head, but mostly they acted ... well ... maybe more like
cops than cannibals."

"Just enforcing the native laws, eh?"

* * * * *

Voorhis did not swallow that quite so graciously. He did not know or
care what the local laws might be, but he thought it suspicious in the
extreme that he should have plopped down exactly upon the spot chosen by
the natives for a temple.

"So do they have to use my ship to hang it on?" he finished plaintively.

"The company is in agreement with you there, captain," Melin put in.
"You see, Judge, our point is that nothing is really lost or seriously
damaged, neither ship nor cargo. They are merely being withheld from
their rightful owner, and we believe that puts the responsibility for
recovery upon the Terran government. Captain Voorhis has our entire
sympathy--"

"Yeah!" said Voorhis. "An' if I get my head sliced off tryin' to get at
that undamaged cargo, you'll come to my funeral! I say it's a loss!"

"Now, gentlemen!" interrupted Mayne. "Let me get on with this. Both of
you, I'm sure, realize that I'm not a lawyer in spite of being a special
judge. If the colonies way out here had enough lawyers to spare, I
certainly wouldn't be sticking my head into this. Nevertheless, any
decision I make here will be regarded as legally binding by the
government of Rigel IX, so let us remain level-headed."

"Very well, Judge," said Melin. "Here are the figures on--"

"Please round them off," said Mayne. "If I have to listen to a long list
in centicredits, I'll probably go off to see what kind of beer they brew
here."

"You w