that young man with a detached interest. Maril thought him
wonderful, even if she had to give him the material for his work.
Calhoun shrugged and went on with his work.

The return of loot. Mutual, full, and complete agreement that Darians
were no longer carriers of plague, if they had ever been. Unless Weald
convinced other worlds of this, Weald itself would join Dara in
isolation from neighboring worlds. A messenger ship to recall the
twenty-seven ships once floating in orbit about Weald. Most of them
would be used for some time, now, to bring beef from Orede. Some would
haul more grain from Weald. It would be paid for. There would be a need
for commercial missions to be exchanged between Weald and Dara.

It was a full week before he could go to the little Med Ship and prepare
for departure. Even then there were matters to be attended to. All the
food-supplies that had been removed could not be replaced. There were
biological samples to be replaced and some to be destroyed.... The
air-tanks....

Maril came to the Med Ship again when he was almost ready to leave. She
did not seem comfortable.

"I wish you could like Korvan," she said regretfully.

"I don't dislike him," said Calhoun. "I think he will be a most
prominent citizen, in time. He has all the talents for it."

Maril smiled very faintly.

"But you don't admire him."

"I wouldn't say that," protested Calhoun. "After all, he is attractive
to you, which is something I couldn't manage."

"You didn't try," said Maril. "Just as I didn't try to be fascinating to
you. Why?"

Calhoun spread out his hands. But he looked at Maril with respect. Not
every woman could have faced the fact that a man did not feel impelled
to make passes at her. It is simply a fact that has nothing to do with
desirability or charm or anything else.

"You're going to marry him," he said. "I hope you'll be very happy."

"He's the man I want," said Maril frankly. "He looks forward to splendid
discoveries. I'm sorry it's so important to him."

Calhoun did not ask the obvious question. Instead, he said thoughtfully;

"There's something you could do.... It needs to be done. The Med Service
in this sector has been badly handled. There are a number
of--discoveries that need to be made. I don't think your Korvan would
relish having things handed to him on a visible silver platter. But they
should be known...."

Maril said wrily;

"I can guess what you mean. I never went into detail