ficers."

"That's interesting to know, I'm sure. I suppose--"

He stopped as a gray-haired woman came and set down a tray containing
a sandwich and a mug. From the foamy top of the mug came the
unmistakable aroma of beer.

"Do you Saints _drink_?" he asked incredulously.

"Sure. Why?"

"But your church--"

"Earth churches used to ban alcohol as sinful because it would cause a
mean person to show his true character. My church is more sensible
and works to change the person's character, instead."

[Illustration]

She took a bite of the sandwich. "Cliff bear steak--it and beer go
perfectly together. Shall I order you some?"

"No," he said, thinking of Y'Nor's fury if Y'Nor should learn he had
had a friendly lunch with a native girl. "About your church--what kind
of a church is it, anyway?"

"What its name implies. Heaven isn't for sale at the pulpit--everybody
has to qualify for it by his own actions. We have to practice our
belief--just looking pious and saying that we believe doesn't count."

He revised his opinion of the Saints, then asked, "But were you
practicing your Golden Rule when you came to this town with a gun to
shoot Vogarians?"

"For Vogarians we have a special Golden Rule that reads: _Do unto
Vogarians as they have come to do unto you._ And you came here to
enslave or kill us--remember?"

It could not be denied. When he did not answer she smiled at him; a
smile surprisingly gentle and understanding.

"You honestly would like to be our friend, wouldn't you? The State
psychiatrists didn't do a good job of brainwashing you, after all."

It was the first time since he was sixteen that anyone had spoken to
him with genuine kindness. It gave him a strange feeling, a lonely
sense of something rising up out of the past to mock him, and he
changed the subject:

"Are the Azure Mountains the edge of your frontier?"

She nodded. "Beyond is the Emerald Plain, a great, wide plain, and
beyond it are mountain ranges that have never been named or explored.
I'm going into them some day and--"

* * * * *

Time passed with astonishing speed as he talked with the girl and it
was late in the afternoon when he continued on to Brenn's cottage. He
put the thoughts of her from his mind and told Brenn of the too-warm
association between the girls and the Vogarians.

"But it is only friendship," Brenn said soothingly. "You can assure
your commander that nothing immoral is being