f pigment of which Calhoun had heard.

The man nearest the Med Ship's port had a monstrous, irregular
dull-blue marking over half of one side of his face and up upon his
forehead. The man next to him had a blue throat. The next man again
was less marked, but his left ear was blue and there was what seemed a
splashing of the same color on the skin under his hair.

The leader of the truculent group--it might have been a firing
squad--made an imperious gesture with his hand. It was blue, except
for two fingers which in the glaring illumination seemed whiter than
white.

"Out!" said that man savagely. "We're taking over your stock of food.
You'll get your share of it, like everybody else, but--"

Maril spoke over Calhoun's shoulder. She uttered a cryptic sentence or
two. It should have amounted to identification but there was
skepticism in the armed party.

"Oh, you're one of us, eh?" said the guard leader sardonically.
"You'll have a chance to prove that. Come out of there!"

Calhoun spoke abruptly, "This is a Med Ship," he said. "There are
medicines and bacterial culture inside it. They shouldn't be meddled
with. Here on Dara you've had enough of plagues!"

The man with the blue hand said as sardonically as before, "I said the
government was taking over your ship! It won't be looted. But you're
not taking a full cargo of food away! In fact, it's not likely you're
leaving!"

"And I want to speak to someone in authority," snapped Calhoun. "We've
just come from Weald." He felt bristling hatred all about him as he
named Weald. "There's tumult there. They're talking about dropping
fusion-bombs here. It's important that I talk to somebody with the
authority to take a few sensible precautions!"

He descended to the ground. There was a panicky "_Chee! Chee!_" from
behind him, and Murgatroyd came dashing to swarm up his body and cling
apprehensively to his neck.

"What's that?"

"A _tormal_" said Calhoun. "He's not a pet. Your medical men will know
something about him. This is a Med Ship and I'm a Med Ship man, and
he's an important member of the crew. He's a Med Ship _tormal_ and he
stays with me!"

The man with the blue hand said harshly, "There's somebody waiting to
ask you questions. Here!"

A groundcar came rolling out from the side of the landing-grid
enclosure. The groundcar ran on wheels, and wheels were not much used
on modern worlds. Dara was behind the times in more ways than one.

"This car will take