. There were
allowances made for "extraordinary merit," which allowed common
troopers or upper-grade NCO's to be commissioned in spite of the
general rules, and an astute man could take advantage of those
allowances.

Ability could get a man up the ladder, but it had to be a particular
kind of ability.

* * * * *

During his sojourn as a "guest" of the Kerothi, MacMaine had made a
point of exploring the history of the race. He knew perfectly well that
the histories he had read were doctored, twisted, and, in general,
totally unreliable in so far as presenting anything that would be
called a history by an unbiased investigator.

But, knowing this, MacMaine had been able to learn a great deal about
the present society. Even if the "history" was worthless as such, it
did tell something about the attitudes of a society that would make up
such a history. And, too, he felt that, in general, the main events
which had been catalogued actually occurred; the details had been
blurred, and the attitudes of the people had been misrepresented, but
the skeleton was essentially factual.

MacMaine felt that he knew what kind of philosophy had produced the
mental attitudes of the Court he now faced, and he felt he knew how to
handle himself before them.

Half a dozen paces in front of the great desk, the color of the floor
tiling was different from that of the rest of the floor. Instead of a
solid blue, it was a dead black. Tallis, who was slightly ahead of
MacMaine, came to a halt as his toes touched the edge of the black
area.

_Uh-oh! a balk line_, MacMaine thought. He stopped sharply at the same
point. Both of them just stood there for a full minute while they were
carefully inspected by the members of the Court.

Then the High Commander gestured with one hand, and the officer to his
left leaned forward and said: "Why is this one brought before us in the
uniform of an officer, bare of any insignia of rank?"

It could only be a ritual question, MacMaine decided; they must know
why he was there.

"I bring him as a candidate for admission to our Ingroup," Tallis
replied formally, "and ask the indulgence of Your Superiorities
therefor."

"And who are you who ask our indulgence?"

Tallis identified himself at length--name, rank, serial number,
military record, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

By the time he had finished, MacMaine was beginning to think that the
recitation would