eat, which had driven the men to strip
to their fatigue shorts. Ann wore the full, formal uniform. A less
strong-willed woman might have appeared wilted after a day's work. Ann's
face was expressionless, a block of cold ivory. Only a faint mist of
perspiration on her upper lip betrayed her acute discomfort.

"You came promptly, Mr. Lord." There was a faint gleam of triumph in her
eyes. "That was good of you."

She unfolded her brother's note and gave it to Lord. It was a clear,
straight-forward statement of fact. Don Howard said he was deserting the
mission, relinquishing his Federation citizenship. "I'm staying on this
world; these people have something priceless, Ann. All my life I've been
looking for it, dreaming of it. You wouldn't understand how I feel, but
nothing else--nothing else--matters, Ann. Go home. Leave these people
alone. Don't try to make them over."

The last lines rang in sympathy with Lord's own feelings, and he knew that
was absurd. Changes would have to be made when the trade city was built.
That was Lord's business. Expansion and progress: the lifeblood of the
Federation.

"What do you want me to do?" he demanded.

"Go after Don and bring him back."

"And if he refuses--"

"I won't leave him here."

"I have no authority to force him against his will, Ann."

"I'm sure you can get help from this--" her lip curled "--this native girl
of yours. What's her name?"

"Niaga."

"Oh, yes; Niaga. Quaint, isn't it?" She smiled flatly.

He felt an almost irresistible urge to smash his fist into her jaw.
Straight-laced, hopelessly blind to every standard but her own--what right
did Ann have to pass judgment on Niaga? It was a rhetorical question.
Ann Howard represented the Federation no less than Lord did himself. By
law, the teachers rode every trading ship; in the final analysis, their
certification could make or break any new planetary franchise.

* * * * *

"Niaga has been very helpful, Ann; cooperative and--"

"Oh, I'm sure she has, Mr. Lord."

"I could threaten to cut off Don's bonus pay, I suppose, but it wouldn't do
much good; money has no meaning to these people and, if Don intends to stay
here, it won't mean much to him, either."

"How you do it, Mr. Lord, is not my concern. But if Don doesn't go home
with us--" She favored him with another icy smile. "I'm afraid I'll have to
make an adverse report when you apply for the franchise."

"You can't, An