She nodded and started for the door, but Colby said, “Abbot, wait! I’m calling a special department heads’ meeting for tomorrow at noon. I’ll want reports on the new rationing schedule and I may have news from Earth, so be prompt.”

“I’ll be there,” replied Abbot, and ducked out between the guards, followed by Inea. Beyond the door, Titus glimpsed a small knot of people craning their necks for a glimpse of the alien.

“And leave the door open,” called Colby to Inea as she moved so that they were visible. Lowering her voice, she said, “Dr. Sa’ar, there are some grim realities that you must face. As soon as I leave this room, I’ll be tested for lingering traces of hypnotism. You might slip something past us, but if we find anything you’ve done to someone, your life may well be forfeit. And don’t give your guards the slip. There are a lot of people on this station right now who would like to see you dead, and though we don’t have any homicidal types here, mob violence is always a possibility among humans. Some may sympathize with the blockaders. Do you understand this?” She glanced at Mirelle whose job it had been to teach H’lim the rudiments of human behavior.

“I comprehend my danger, Dr. Colby, perhaps even more keenly than you do.”

Mirelle said, “I believe he does.”

“And I am eager to work to prove you all wrong about me. I’m a simple merchant who would like to go home, and I’m willing to pay my way.”

Colby folded her arms and paced a small circle. “So you keep claiming. We shall see. We’re very cut off here, very vulnerable, with suddenly limited resources. Do something to alleviate our situation, and you’ll be a hero. Do you understand what a hero is?”

“Yes,” he answered simply and Mirelle corroborated him.

“Show us any threatening behavior and you shall be dead Do you understand that?”

“Yes.”

“Dr. de Lisle says you exhibit the classic human reward-response behavior. I’m going to trust her judgment. I’ve entered a security clearance for you commensurate with that of my department heads, and I’ve put you on the payroll so you can make purchases-though I suggest you don’t go strolling through the shopping mall. It could upset people.”

“I understand.”

“I’ll expect you at the meeting tomorrow with a report on your progress here. Let me know who you want assigned as your staff or get Abbot to select them for you. You’ll need a good secretary. It takes a lifetime to learn how to handle W.S. paperwork, and God alone knows what to do about income tax. I’ll expect you to report on the schedule you’ve set up with Biomed to teach them what you know, and Cognitive Sciences has requisitioned a portion of your time to study you.”

“That’s understood.”

She rounded on him. “I hope so,” she said in a hard, tense voice. “I’m putting my career on the line for you, Dr. Sa’ar. You’ll be treated as one of us only so long as you behave as one of us.”

“Have I broken my word yet?”

“Not that we’ve found-yet. But in the meantime, don’t let anyone catch you out of your apartment without either Titus, Abbot, or Inea. Is that clear?”

“Perfectly.”

Colby turned to Titus. “The work of your department is no less important for all this added duty,” she began.

“I figured that,” answered Titus and reported the overtime he’d authorized so his people could prepare a summary morning. “My staff is handling things, but Cellura is bad y overworked. I’ve put her on overtime, too.”

Colby nodded and made a note on the board she carried. “Just see she gets enough rest and exercise. I don’t want anyone cracking up. Not now.” With that, she departed, leaving Titus alone with Mirelle and H’lim.

Looking after Colby, Mirelle said, “She’s not herself lately. Too much pressure and not enough rest.”

“She’s frightened,” said H’lim.

Mirelle blinked at him, then cracked a dazzling smile that wiped away the fatigue. “You learn fast!” Proffering the stack of cartridges she’d brought, she recited dully, “Here, these are the books I promised. I annotated them for you, so you don’t have to read it all.” She selected two saying, “This is Burke on Rhetoric, and this is the Kine Variant Tabulation, unabridged. Chapter Twenty lists the fifteen degrees of eyelid closure, but most human cultures only recognize five at the most. The Chapters beyond Twenty have to do with complex kinemorphs, so don’t bother with those. They’d just confuse you.”

H’lim caressed the plastic. “Oh, I think this will be most valuable. Thank you, Mirelle.”

She looked at Titus without any of the flirtation she had always shown him. “Would you like me to go with you to H’lim’s apartment?”

She seemed wholly disinterested. Overwhelmed with pity, Titus said, “No, no. I know where it is.”

“All right.” It took a moment for her to gather strength, then’s bid them au revoir and slipped out the door just as a man and a woman were preparing to jockey a long workbench into the room. Seeing Titus and H’lim, the man knocked and called out, “Ready for this yet?”

All yours,“ said Titus. ”We were just leaving.“

They squeezed past the obstruction and the guards fell in jd them leaving them no privacy to talk until they reached le apartment. Titus didn’t want to risk cloaking their words for r someone might discover how the guards, walking close, “”dn’t remember anything that had been said.

Wh they opened the door, they found an apartment much like Titus’s, but done in stark black and white, with a gray carpet. The kitchenette had black marble and gold fixtures, and there were some African paintings on the walls. H’lim winced at his first sight of the place.

“Is black and white offensive to you?” asked Titus.

“No. Oh no, it’s fine.” He moved his hand across the threshold barrier as if pushing through molasses. “I will work to make a home of it. Meanwhile, won’t you please come in?” He uttered the polite phrase with stiff but proper intonation, so proper that Titus almost laughed when H’lim peeked at him to see if he’d done it right.

“Thank you very much,” intoned Titus with a bow and crossed the threshold, closing the door on the guards.

The few personal possessions H’lim had acquired were piled on the bed beside folded sheets and blankets. The wires from the field generator Abbot had built were tangled but unbroken.

As they untangled the mess, made the bed, and Titus showed H’lim how everything worked, Titus asked, “Do you think your people would give me as much as Colby has given you? I mean, positions reversed.”

“Possibly. Colby is an unusually courageous individual. I’m awed by her boldness.”

“I think she’s hoping that if you do get home, you’ll remember how you were accepted here and say a few good words for Earth’s humans.”

“Of course. Positions reversed, there would be no compelling reason for those in authority to seek your good opinion. So the situation wouldn’t be the same.”

Titus seized on that new datum. “Why wouldn’t luren out there value our good opinion of them?”

“I thought that was obvious. You have only one little planet, and so far I’ve seen nothing much worth trading for except art curios. Should Earth decide not to trade, it would be little loss. However, we have many planets full of things you could use and a wealth of technology you don’t have yet. In that situation, how would humans behave? Wouldn’t one group be more eager than the other?”

“Well, if we have nothing the galaxy would want, why should we bother trying to communicate?”

“I’m only one person and I’ve seen little of this world. Perhaps your world has commercial potential it would take experts to discover. Where there’s a chance of profit, such experts will come and search hard to open a new market. But there are strict laws to protect newly contacted cultures. Mirelle has told me your world has already documented the vulnerability of cultures in a mismatched relationship. Surely you can understand-”