* *

"Ah ... you're coming out of it, my boy."

Rockford was standing over him. "They gave you a Restoration shot on
Vesta forty-eight hours ago. It will be wearing off in a minute and your
head will clear."

He sat up, and the dizziness faded swiftly away. He saw that he was in
the compartment of an interstellar ship and he knew that it was
Earthbound.

And that Vesta, and brown-eyed Lyla, were now part of the past....

"Don't look so sad, my boy," Rockford said. "You'll get due credit and
promotion for the invaluable part you played in my plan."

"But--"

"I know. But she was never yours. You'll find life is full of
heartbreaks like that, son.

"And we accomplished our mission. Narf's crime neatly invalidated the
proxy marriage. Then Lyla set a new precedent by marrying Val that very
day. Earth has never had two such loyal and grateful friends as Val and
Lyla."

"You knew all about them, didn't you?" he asked.

"Strategic Service has to know everything. And I knew they were still
in love even though each was too proud to admit it. That's why I had to
insist on Val coming to Vesta. After that, it was only a matter of using
you to awaken Val to the fact that she did _not_ love Narf. And of
taking care of various little details, such as faking an official
request for the helicopters to come out two hours ahead of time, getting
Val off to find her at the proper time, and so on."

Rockford smiled at him, "And you learned that an old man's mind can be
mightier than the space fleets of the Verdam empire--and that the line
of duty that produces the best results can sometimes be very devious."

He thought of the white-faced Sonig, and the anguished bawl he had heard
from Narf.

"I suppose they were going to hang Narf and Sonig at once."

"The Council would have, no doubt. But Lyla was so happy that she begged
the Council to give them very light sentences--or just let them go free.
So I suggested a compromise. The Royal Council regarded it as very
fitting."

"What was it?"

"For Sonig, no punishment. The murder attempt, being news of public
interest, will be broadcast upon Vesta and other worlds, including a
factual, unbiased account of Sonig's participation in it. Shortly
afterward, Sonig will be taken to Verdam and turned over to his own
benevolent government. Vesta will file no charges."

"But Sonig lost Jardeen for his government. They'll execute him for
that!"

"Yes. I'm afraid so. Shal