r of the hangover, the agent's biting attack on his pride and his
state, Aron listened. Later the agent was no longer the enemy, but a
partner in a deal.

* * * * *

The next week the ships came. Twenty-seven proud cruisers of the
People's Republic; also troop and supply ships. They landed in the broad
valley on the main continent of Kligor, twenty miles from Aron's
station.

The professional fighters emerged from their tools of war, the dull
hulls of the ships and the dark uniforms lapping up the pleasant
sunshine. The only reflection was from the polished bits of metal that
hung at their sides, bits of metal that could spit destruction in ten
different forms.

They looked at the planet but did not see it, it was just their newly
gained base. They did not see the poignant beauty of the seemingly
senescent hills covered with wisps of green and bathed in blazing
sunshine. They only saw strategic positions, avenues of approach and
tactical advantages.

The pebble had become a pawn. War had come to Kligor. The slow, subtle
weavings of individual threads of human psychology were ripped and
snarled as the Mass Effort took over.

Conferences were held, land surveyed, machinery trundled from the
cavernous holds of supply ships and the base was begun. To the cadence
of barked orders, shuffling feet and grinding, pounding, thumping
machinery, the buildings rose, the men moved in.

There was the usual bustle of a new military operation, the normal
tension of a top-secret operation, the usual bungling and mix-up of
supplies. But there was a slightly different attitude toward the
gradually growing base. This was not a standard military location, one
that had existed for years, or an enemy one that had been captured, or
even a piece of ground that had been paid for in blasted hulks and
smashed bodies.

This gain was by treason.

Naturally then, the men felt contempt for the operation and their
contempt was manifested in sloppiness. The commanding officers would
ordinarily have become raging martinets at such lax discipline and
slovenliness, but the taint and contempt of treasonous gain was upon
them also.

This contempt was displayed openly whenever the Traitor came to the
base. Weak egos must be flattered by derision of others. They would have
killed him as a matter of course, if he hadn't been clever enough to
refuse to relinquish the secret codes which allowed the friendly ships
to pa