e Great Bay
now. That's where our ship landed on the second probing expedition. I
expect we'll be more welcome there than we have been, out here in the
countryside. We'll take it easy, and I think you'll have a chance to
work with the natives on a mass basis."

The Frater smiled. "Excellent, commander. I ... uh ... want you to
understand that I'm not trying to tell you your business; you run this
campaign as you see fit. But don't lose sight of the ultimate goal of
life."

"I won't. How could I? It's just that my methods are not, perhaps, as
refined as yours."

Frater Vincent nodded, still smiling. "True. You are a great deal more
direct. And--in your own way--just as effective. After all, the Assembly
could not function without the military, but there were armies long
before the Universal Assembly came into being."

The commander smiled back. "Not any armies like this, Frater."

Frater Vincent nodded. The understanding between the two men--at least
on that point--was tacit and mutual. He traced a symbol in the air and
left the commander to his thoughts.

Mentally, the commander went through the symbol-patterns that he had
learned as a child--the symbol-patterns that brought him into direct
contact with the Ultimate Power, the Power that controlled not only the
spinning of atoms and the whirling of electrons in their orbits, but the
workings of probability itself.

Once indoctrinated into the teachings of the Universal Assembly, any man
could tap that Power to a greater or lesser degree, depending on his
mental control and ethical attitude. At the top level, a first-class
adept could utilize that Power for telepathy, psychokinesis, levitation,
teleportation, and other powers that the commander only vaguely
understood.

He, himself, had no such depth of mind, such iron control over his will,
and he knew he'd never have it. But he could and did tap that Power to
the extent that his physical body was under near-perfect control at all
times, and not even the fear of death could shake his determination to
win or his great courage.

He turned again to the window and looked at the alien sky. There was a
great deal yet to be done.

* * * * *

The commander needed information--needed it badly. He had to know what
the government of the alien empire was doing. Had they been warned of
his arrival? Surely they must have, and yet they had taken no steps to
impede his progress.

For this