eed, a message bearer
for the other divinities. There always seems to be one in every
primitive mythology."

"Yes," murmured Mayne. "Let's see ... one parallel would be the ancient
Terran Hermes, wouldn't it?"

"Something like that," agreed Haruhiku. "I'm a little vague on the
subject, sir. At least, he isn't one of the bloodthirsty ones."

"That helps," sighed Mayne, "but not enough."

He got a message blank from the pilot. With some labor, he composed a
request to Terran headquarters on Rigel IX for authorization to spend
two million credits on good-will preparations for the Terran-Kappan
treaty conference.

_It almost sounds diplomatic_, he told himself before having the message
sent.

The waiting period that followed was more to be blamed upon headquarters
pussyfooting than upon the subspace transmission. When an answer finally
came, it required a further exchange of messages.

Mayne's last communique might have been boiled down to, "But I _need_
it!"

The last reply granted provisional permission to spend the sum
mentioned; but gleaming between the lines like the sweep of a revolving
beacon was a strong intimation that Mayne had better not hope to charge
the item to "good will." The budget just was not made that way, the hint
concluded.

"It's due to get dark soon, isn't it?" he asked Haruhiku, crumpling the
final message into a side pocket. "I don't believe I'll resume the talks
till morning. Maybe my head will function again by then."

* * * * *

In the morning, one of the scout's crew again took the pilot and Mayne
to the meeting by helicopter. Mayne spent part of the trip mulling over
a message Haruhiku had received. The spaceship _Diamond Belt_ could be
expected to arrive in orbit about the planet later the same day, bearing
special envoy J. P. McDonald. The captain, having been informed of
Haruhiku's presence, requested landing advice.

"I told him what I know," said the pilot. "We can give him a beam down,
of course, unless you think we should send him somewhere else."

"Well ... let's see how this goes," said Mayne. "They seem to be waiting
for us down there."

They landed to find Voorhis, Melin, and the native officialdom gathered
at the hut facing the new "temple." After exchanging greetings, they sat
down at the table as they had the day before.

"All right, gentlemen," said Mayne to the two Terrans. "You win. The
government is going to have to put somet