t on. "We were doing fairly well till
Candar's revolt and seizure of power. He is leaning toward Darzent.
Apparently he thinks he can keep his own independence even if Darzent
wins the decision. He's going along with us just enough to assure his
supply of gold. But you noticed his own lack of gold ornamentation.
His eventual aim is undoubtedly to dominate and destroy the religion
because it's about the only independent force left on Onzar, and
Candar is not going to tolerate any independent forces."

Garth looked steadily at Thane. "The rest of the details, the
language, and your own mission will be made clear to you in the sleep
trainer. And it is no exaggeration to say that you will be responsible
for the future of the Galaxy."

* * * * *

Liaison Headquarters had started out several centuries before as a
small organization within the Department of the Outside, directly
under the control of the newly-formed Allied Systems Council. It had
begun in a room, and had later moved to its own building. Now it
occupied a planet.

The four planets in the system all appeared to be barren, lifeless
rocks. Appearances were correct for I, III, and IV. II, however, was
not what it seemed. Like the others, the surface was rocky, barren,
utterly lifeless, without atmosphere. But a few kilometers down, a
red-haired boy had just won a game of bok at school recess. A research
worker had just finished a report on an improved interrogatory drug.
An administrative assistant had just planned a palace revolution on a
system 200 light years away. And Roger Thane, Liaison Agent, was just
entering Medico-Synthesis, some eighteen kilometers under the surface.

The young medic looked up as Thane stepped off the mobiltrack and
entered the room. "You're Thane," he said, with curiosity in his
voice. "The instructions and the sleep-record just came through the
Pneum. I've heard about you people from Proxima. Just how does it
work, anyway?"

Thane walked over to the sleep-table and grinned a little wearily.
"How are you able to see?" he asked. "I don't know that I could tell a
blind man satisfactorily. How do the people of the Noxus system
telepath? I don't know, and they've tried to tell me. All I know is
that mutations occurred sometime while Proxima Centauri was an orphan
system, which enable many of us to make small changes in our
appearance. Hair color, skin pigmentation, fingerprints. Usually takes
about two