know it. We still can't. Bart, I suppose you
know about Lharillis."

"Not by that name."

"Your next stop. The planetoid of the captive sun. That little hunk of
bare rock out there is the first spot the Lhari visited in this
galaxy--even before Mentor. It's an inferno of light from that little
blue-white sun, so of course they love it--it's just like home to them.
When they found that the inner planets of Antares were inhabited, they
built their spaceport here, so they'd have a better chance at trade."
Montano scowled fiercely.

"But they wanted that little worldlet. So we went all over it to be sure
there were no rare minerals there, and finally leased it to them, a
century at a time. They mine the place for some kind of powdered
lubricant that's better than graphite--it's all done by robot machinery,
no one's stationed there. Every time a Lhari ship comes through this
system they stop there, even though there's nothing on Lharillis except
a landing field and some concrete bunkers filled with robot mining
machinery. They'll stop there on the way out of this system--and that's
where you come in. We need you on board, to put the radiation counter
out of commission."

He took a chart from a drawer, spread it out on a table top. "The
simplest way would be to cut these two wires. When the Lhari land, we'll
be there, waiting for them. On board the Lhari ship, there must be full
records--coordinates of their home world, of where they go for their
catalyst fuel--all that."

Bart whistled. "But won't the crew defend the ship? You can't fight
energon-ray guns!"

Montano's face was perfectly calm. "No. We won't even try." He handed
Bart a small strip of pale-yellow plastic.

"Keep this out of sight of the Mentorians," he said. "The Lhari won't be
able to see the color, of course. But when it turns orange, take cover."

"What is it?"

"Radiation-exposure film. It's exactly as sensitive to radiation as you
are. When it starts to turn orange, it's picking up radiation. If you're
aboard the ship, get into the drive chambers--they're lead-lined--and
you'll be safe. If you're out on the surface, you'll be all right inside
one of the concrete bunkers. But get under cover before it turns red,
because by that time every Lhari of them will be stone-cold dead."

Bart let the strip of plastic drop, staring in disbelief at Montano's
cold, cruel face. "Kill them? Kill a whole _shipload_ of them? That's
_murder_!"

"Not murder. W