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free colonies."

"Well, let's give them one." Mario sat down tiredly, snapping his
fingers at the Dustie. "Furs!" he snarled. He looked up, his dark eyes
burning. "It's no good, Pete. We can't let them get away with it.
Produce for them, yes. Try to raise the yield for them, yes. But not a
governor. If they insist on that we can throw them out, and keep them
out."

"I don't think so. They'd kill every one of us first."

John Tegan sat up, and looked Pete Farnam straight in the eye. "In that
case, Peter, it might just be better if they did."

Pete stared at him for a moment and slowly stood up. "All right," he
said. "Call a general colony meeting. We'll see what the women think.
Then we'll make our plans."

* * * * *

The ship's jeep skidded to a halt in a cloud of dust. Captain Varga
peered through the windshield. Then he stood up, staring at the three
men blocking the road at the edge of the village. The little pink-faced
man at his side turned white when he saw their faces, and his fingers
began to tremble. Each of the men had a gun.

"You'd better clear the road," the captain snapped. "We're driving
through."

Pete Farnam stepped forward. He pointed to Nathan. "Take your friend
there back to the ship. Leave him there. We don't want him here."

Nathan turned to Varga. "I told you," he said viciously. "Too big for
their boots. Go on through."

The captain laughed and gunned the motor, started straight for the men
blocking the road. Then Jack Mario shot a hole in his front tire. The
jeep lurched to a stop. Captain Varga stood up, glaring at the men.
"Farnam, step out here," he said.

"You heard us," Pete said, without moving. "Crops, yes. We'll try to
increase our yield. But no overseer. Leave him here and we'll kill him."

"Once more," said the captain, "clear the way. This man is your new
governor. He will be regarded as the official agent of the Earth
Government until the final production capacity of this colony is
determined. Now clear out."

The men didn't move. Without another word, the captain threw the jeep
into reverse, jerked back in a curve, and started the jeep, flat tire
and all, back toward the ship in a billow of dust.

Abruptly the village exploded into activity. Four men took up places
behind the row of windbreaks beyond the first row of cabins. Pete turned
and ran back into the village. He found John Tegan commandeering a
squad of ten dirty-faced me