atched
blue fatigues.

The doctor's words still rang in Stetson's ears: "This patient's vital
tone is too low to permit operative replacement of damaged organs. He'll
live for a while because of the pod, but--" And the doctor had shrugged.

Stetson slumped into his desk chair, looked out the open port beside
him. Some four hundred meters below, the scurrying beetlelike activity
of the I-A's main field sent up discordant roaring and clattering. Two
rows of other scout cruisers were parked in line with Stetson's
port--gleaming red and black needles. He stared at them without really
seeing them.

_It always happens on some "routine" assignment_, he thought. _Nothing
but a slight suspicion about Heleb: the fact that only women held high
office. One simple, unexplained fact ... and I lose my best agent!_

He sighed, turned to his desk, began composing the report:

"The militant core on the Planet Heleb has been eliminated. Occupation
force on the ground. No further danger to Galactic peace expected from
this source. Reason for operation: Rediscovery & Re-education--_after
two years on the planet_--failed to detect signs of militancy. The major
indications were: 1) a ruling caste restricted to women, and 2)
disparity between numbers of males and females _far_ beyond the Lutig
norm! Senior Field Agent Lewis Orne found that the ruling caste was
controlling the sex of offspring at conception (see attached details),
and had raised a male slave army to maintain its rule. The R&R agent had
been drained of information, then killed. Arms constructed on the basis
of that information caused critical injuries to Senior Field Agent Orne.
He is not expected to live. I am hereby urging that he receive the
Galaxy Medal, and that his name be added to the Roll of Honor."

Stetson pushed the page aside. That was enough for ComGO, who never read
anything but the first page anyway. Details were for his aides to chew
and digest. They could wait. Stetson punched his desk callbox for Orne's
service record, set himself to the task he most detested: notifying next
of kin. He read, pursing his lips:

"Home Planet: Chargon. Notify in case of accident or death: Mrs.
Victoria Orne, mother."

He leafed through the pages, reluctant to send the hated message. Orne
had enlisted in the Marak Marines at age seventeen--a runaway from
home--and his mother had given post-enlistment consent. Two years later:
scholarship transfer to Uni-Galacta, the R&R sc