Constabulary, to help you." He
handed the phone to M'zangwe. "You take care of that end of it, Them;
you know who can be spared."

"But, what ...?" the girl began.

"That's why you were attacked," he told her. "Keeluk was afraid to let
you get away from there alive to report hearing that dog, so he went
out and had a gang of thugs rounded up to kill you."

"But he was only gone five minutes."

"In five minutes, I can put all the troops in Konkrook into action.
Keeluk doesn't have radio or TV--we hope--but he has his forces
concentrated, and he has a pretty good staff."

"But Mr. Keeluk's a friend of ours. He knows what our Association is
trying to do for his people...."

"So he shows his appreciation by setting that mob on you. Look, he has
a lot of influence in that section. When you were attacked, why wasn't
he out trying to quiet the mob?"

"When they jumped you, you tried to get back into the house," M'zangwe
put in. "And you found the door barred against you."

"Yes, but...." The girl looked troubled; M'zangwe had guessed right.
"But what's all the excitement about the dog? What is it, the sacred
totem-animal of the Uller Company?"

"It's just a big brown collie, named Stalin, like half the dogs on
Terra. Somebody stole it, and Keeluk was keeping it, and we want to
know why. We don't like geek mysteries; not when they lead to
murderous attacks on Terrans, at least."

The aircar let down on the hospital landing stage. A stretcher was
waiting, with a Terran interne and two Ulleran orderlies. They got the
still-unconscious Mohammed Ferriera out of the car.

"You'd better go with them, yourself, Miss Quinton," von Schlichten
advised. "You have a couple of nasty-looking bruises and bumps. A
couple of abrasions, too, where those geeks grabbed you; they have
hides like sandpaper. And better have that coat cleaned, before that
goo on it hardens, or it'll be ruined."

"Yes. You have a lot of it on your uniform, too."

He glanced down at the blue-gray jacket. "So I have. And another
thing. Those letters Keeluk was going to give you, the ones to his
friends in Skilk. Did you get them?"

She felt in the pocket of her coat. "Yes. I still have them."

"I wish you'd let Colonel O'Leary have a look at them. There may be
more to them than you think.... Hid, will you go with Miss Quinton?"

II.

Rakkeed, Stalin, and the Rev. Keeluk

Von Schlichten, in a fresh uniform, sat at the end of the table in
Si