Wondering, he unconsciously hung his head, slowed--stopped. Dr. Pine
caught up. He and Commander Seymour, faintly breathless from the trying
need to regulate their respiration consciously, looked at Chet
questioningly.

Again they were sizing him up. Suddenly Chet wished he could go back to
that first interview in the sickbay, and change all the things he'd
said.

"We can't go on!" he blurted. "You don't know what you're getting into,
Doctor!"

"Oh?" said Dr. Pine agreeably. "I know more than you think, young
feller." He smiled encouragingly.

"That--that I've killed a witch-doctor? That you may be taken for a
murderer?"

"Sure! You--ah--you talked about it under drugs. We ... weren't spying,
Chet. We just wanted you to tell your story without reliving all the
agony. It wasn't intended as--ah--a trap...." He massaged his fingers
apologetically.

"No...." Chet agreed. "But-I-was-trying-to-lead-_you_-into-one!"

* * * * *

Had he said that aloud? Chet couldn't be sure.

He listened for his own voice. The woods were quiet. His breathing
seemed strangely loud. He held it--and heard the Agvars moving in the
woods. Rustling, scraping, crackling--grunting their guttural dialog.
Crashing! Threatening them!

"Let's go back!" he urged, trying to sound casual. But his trail was
blocked.

"Stick around," Dr. Pine suggested easily. "You--ah--you haven't said
anything we didn't know. We're going right ahead."

"But why?" Once more Chet was hotly incredulous. "To risk your life for a
few stray facts? Become a casualty while trying to _avoid_ casualties?
It doesn't make sense!"

Dr. Pine stared at his own hands as if to hide his shyness in them. "As
to the fact-seeking," he said slowly, "well ... it's a matter of
opinion. I've lost a few classmates.... Risks in research are
commonplace--and accepted as worthwhile by most people....

"And--ah--peace.... You once called it appeasement, but it isn't,
always. Well, look. If we fought those Agvars, somebody'd have to take a
patrol into their village and capture prisoners for our Intelligence,
right?"

Chet nodded dumbly.

"Well, in a way, I--ah--am the peaceful equivalent of that patrol.
The--ah--risk I run is less than if we had a war and a patrol skirmish
as part of it, though. And why in the world not take for peace a risk
we'd routinely accept in war?"

Why not? But why not minimize it, just the same. The Agvars, invisible
but nois