second-in-command.

Y'Nor spoke again:

"Since Vogarian commanders do not go out and mingle with the natives
of a subject world, you will act as my representative. I'll let Brenn
sweat until tomorrow, then you will go see him. In that, and in all
subsequent contacts with the natives, you will keep in mind the fact
that I shall hold you personally responsible for any failure of my
program."

* * * * *

The next afternoon, two hours before the deadline, Kane went out into
the sweet spring air of the world the Saints had named Sanctuary.

It was a virgin world, rich in the resources needed by Vogar, with
twenty thousand Saints as the primary labor supply. It was also, he
thought, a green and beautiful world; almost a familiar world. The
cruiser stood at the upper edge of the town and in the late afternoon
sun the little white and brown houses were touched with gold, half
hidden in the deep azure shadows of the tall trees and flowering vines
that bordered the gently curving streets.

Restlessness stirred within him as he looked at them. It was like
going back in time to the Lost Islands, that isolated little region of
Vogar that had eluded collectivization until the year he was sixteen.
It had been at the same time of year, in the spring, that the State
Unity forces had landed. The Lost Island villages had been drowsing in
the sun that afternoon, as this town was drowsing now--

He forced the memories from his mind, and the futile restlessness they
brought, and went on past a golden-spired church to a small cottage
that was almost hidden in a garden of flowers and giant silver ferns.

Brenn met him at the door, his manner very courteous, his eyes
dark-shadowed with weariness as though he had not slept for many
hours, and invited him inside.

When they were seated in the simply-furnished room, Brenn said, "You
came for my decision, sir?"

"The commander sent me for it."

Brenn folded his thin hands, which seemed to have the trembling
sometimes characteristic of the aged.

"Yesterday evening when I came from the ship, I prayed for guidance
and I saw that I could only abide by the Golden Rule: _Do unto others
as you would have them do unto you._"

"Which means," Kane asked, "that you will do what?"

"Should we of the Church be stranded upon an alien world, our fuel
supply almost gone, we would ask for help. By our own Golden Rule we
can do no less than give it."

"Eighteen hou