ed Hoddan. "But after all, despite your deep
gratitude to me, there are such things as one's duty to humanity as a
whole. And while it would cause you bitter anguish if someone dear to
you represented a danger to millions of innocent women and
children--still, under such circumstances you might feel it necessary to
do violence to your own emotions."

Don Loris looked at him with abrupt suspicion. Hoddan waved the roll.

"Moreover," he observed, "gratitude for actions done on Darth does not
entitle you to judge of my actions on Walden. While you might and even
should feel obliged to defend me in all things I have done on Darth,
your obligation to me does not let you deny that I may have acted less
defensibly on Walden."

Don Loris looked extremely uneasy.

"I may have thought something like that," he admitted. "But--"

"So that," said Hoddan, "while your debt to me cannot and should not be
overlooked, nevertheless"--Hoddan put the roll into his mouth and spoke
less clearly--"you feel that you should give consideration to the claims
of Walden to inquire into my actions while there."

He chewed, and swallowed, and said gravely:

"And can I make deathrays?"

Don Loris brightened. He drew a deep breath of relief. He said
complainingly:

"I don't see why you're so sarcastic! Yes. That is a rather important
question. You see, on Walden they don't know how to. They say you do.
They're very anxious that nobody should be able to. But while in
unscrupulous hands such an instrument of destruction would be most
unfortunate ... ah ... under proper control--"

"Yours," said Hoddan.

"Say--ours," said Don Loris hopefully. "With my experience of men and
affairs, and my loyal and devoted retainers--"

"And cozy dungeons," said Hoddan. He wiped his mouth. "No."

Don Loris started violently.

"No, what?"

"No deathrays," said Hoddan. "I can't make 'em. Nobody can. If they
could be made, some star somewhere would be turning them out, or some
natural phenomenon would let them loose from time to time. If there were
such things as deathrays, all living things would have died, or else
would have adjusted to their weaker manifestations and developed
immunity so they wouldn't be deathrays any longer. As a matter of fact,
that's probably been the case, some time in the past. So far as the
gadget goes that they're talking about, it's been in use for half a
century in the Cetis cluster. Nobody's died of it yet."

Don Loris looke