ife, Jason! And even if it saves a million lives--it's hard to forgive
them for that!"

* * * * *

Late the next day the Old One called us in again, and told us that a
hundred men had volunteered to return with us and act as blood donors
and experimental subjects for research into the trailmen's disease.

The trip over the mountains, so painfully accomplished was easier in
return. Our escort of a hundred trailmen guaranteed us against attack,
and they could choose the easiest paths.

Only as we undertook the long climb downward through the foothills did
the trailmen, un-used to ground travel at any time, and suffering from
the unaccustomed low altitude, begin to weaken. As we grew stronger,
more and more of them faltered, and we travelled more and more slowly.
Not even Kendricks could be callous about "inhuman animals" by the time
we reached the point where we had left the pack animals. And it was Rafe
Scott who came to me and said desperately, "Jason, these poor fellows
will never make it to Carthon. Lerrys and I know this country. Let us go
ahead, as fast as we can travel alone, and arrange at Carthon for
transit--maybe we can get pressurized aircraft to fly them from here. We
can send a message from Carthon, too, about accommodations for them at
the Terran HQ."

I was surprised and a little guilty that I had not thought of this
myself. I covered it with a mocking, "I thought you didn't give a damn
about 'any of my friends.'"

Rafe said doggedly, "I guess I was wrong about that. They're going
through this out of a sense of duty, so they must be pretty different
than I thought they were."

Regis, who had overheard Rafe's plan, now broke in quietly, "There's no
need for you to travel ahead, Rafe. I can send a quicker message."

I had forgotten that Regis was a trained telepath. He added, "There are
some space and distance limitations to such messages, but there is a
regular relay net all over Darkover, and one of the relays is a girl who
lives at the very edge of the Terran Zone. _If_ you'll tell me what will
give her access to the Terran HQ--" he flushed slightly and explained,
"from what I know of the Terrans, she would not be very fortunate
relaying the message if she merely walked to the gate and said she had a
relayed telepathic message for someone, would she?"

I had to smile at the picture that conjured up in my mind. "I'm afraid
not," I admitted. "Tell her to go to Dr. Fo