Grabbing at a straw, Brown Limper decided to look into this a bit further and returned that evening to the compound. The sentries, of course, would not dream of saying anything to a senior Council member wearing a bit of colored ribbon that denoted his tribe, and Brown Limper hung about, watching the huge Psychlo from a distance. And he saw something very curious. A young Swedish pilot trainee stood for a while outside the bars talking to him.

The sentry said yes, the cadet came quite routinely after the classes of the day; he was polishing up his Psychlo: all pilots had to be very expert on Psychlo, and the monster in that cage was a real Psychlo and there weren't many others around to talk to. No, he didn't know what they talked about for the sentry couldn't speak Psychlo, being part of the Argyll raiders on duty here, but the cadet's name, it says here in the log, is Lars Thorenson, and thank you very much chief, sir, for mentioning that sentries should have cloaks and promising to take it up with the Council.

So, using his influence, Brown Limper found in Academy records that Lars Thorenson had been a member of a Swedish tribe that emigrated, way back, to Scotland; that he had originally been chosen as a Coordinator trainee because he spoke Swedish and English and had a gift for tongues; that his father was a fascist minister and had urged the boy to use the Federation to spread the call of fascism in view of the fact that it had been the state religion of Sweden and had had some important military figure named Hitler as its head and was needed by the world; that the boy had been dropped therefore by the Federation but had reapplied due to the scarcity of manpower and been accepted as a flying cadet; that he was doing horribly in stunt flying and was right now healing up from a bad landing and was temporarily suspended and probably would be sent back to the farm in Scotland on the basis that while he might have a gift for languages he didn't seem all right in the head.

Well! A senior Council member could easily get that threat of dismissal quashed.

Brown Limper began to take a very definite interest in Lars Thorenson, and through him, in that monster in the cage.

Things were definitely looking up. Certain crimes must be corrected even if the criminal were an old companion!

That day had left Terl feeling very optimistic.

It had gone off just like he knew it would. Someone sooner or later was going to get teleportation in operation again on this planet, and with what joy he had found that the animal himself was taking an interest in it!

Terl was a highly trained security chief, the best by his own admission, and he knew all about teleportation. All about it.

When the animal went over to the Chamco dome, Terl had even pleasantly waited for the shots. They came!

Terl was of two minds about the outcome. He was very pleased there was a fight and that the Chamcos had reacted exactly as predicted, and at the same time he was disappointed the animal had only received a scratched face. It was a difficult emotional conflict to be glad the animal had shot up the Chamcos successfully and to be unhappy to see the animal still hobbling around alive afterward. Well, one couldn't have everything.

He waited for two days for the news that the Chamcos had committed suicide. It finally came to him through the stupid cadet who visited him of an evening. Practicing talking a language required having something to talk about and so Terl got lots of news.

“You know those two Psychlos that used to work over in that dome,” said Lars, talking through the barrier and bars. “Well, they put them in a cell down in the dormitory area, and this afternoon, despite a great deal of precautions, the two hung themselves with their chains. Over a crossbeam. They broke their chains apart and made a pair of nooses with them and they hung themselves. They could have escaped maybe, but instead they simply strung themselves up.”

“No!” said Terl, pretending he didn't expect just that. “The poor fellows. Must have been hurt terribly badly by the animal. I saw it from here. He just stood there and kept firing into them. When a Psychlo is hit too badly and knows he can't recover, he is likely to commit suicide.” Which was about as far from the facts as Terl would allow himself to stray. Without breaking down laughing.

“They're giving the sentry and the guard sergeant drumhead court-martials," said Lars. “Probably send them back to Scotland. They're Argylls. Clanargyll, that is.”

Terl clicked his fangs in sympathy over this gross injustice and said so.

Lars could agree how unjust authorities could be. But he mustn't go too far. “There's someone here I’d like you to meet. He's very important, a senior Council member. I won't mention his name. He's standing over in the shadows under the pole. Do you see him?”

Terl had seen him the instant he took position over there. He said, “Where?

Oh? What's a senior Council member?”

So Lars-it was great practice for his Psychlo– filled him in on the whole political background that was now functioning. And Terl said, well, certainly he'd talk through his friend the cadet to this very important official, it would be glorious practice for the cadet's Psychlo.

So, using a couple of mine radios (Brown Limper said the glaring lights in front of the cage hurt his eyes and he had had a fever lately), a considerable amount of conversation occurred with Lars in the middle.

Terl gave the politician a lot of very good, “factual” data. The Psychlos were actually a peaceable people, interested in commerce, and here, only in mining. A disaster had occurred a thousand or so years ago that made it possible for the Psychlo company to move in. No, he didn't know what caused the disaster, probably some natural cataclysm. The company had tried to save all the people they could but the inhabitants misunderstood their intentions and hid from the peace missions and rescue teams, and the company, being only a commercial company and not political, had been quite poor and unable to continue with the financial burden of rescue since profits were down and so the whole thing had gone on.

Yes, well, he could say that this animal (Tyler?) had provoked a crisis. Rash? Well, yes, come to think of it, pretty rash. Wild, too. He knew. He had tried to befriend him and now he, Terl, was in a cage– without trial too! But of course his feelings of guilt and desire for repentance were the real reason he wanted to be in the cage. This animal– what did you say its name was? Tyler? He didn't know it had a name; it was very secretive, bad-tempered in fact. Well, look what he had done to Terl's two best friends just a couple of days ago, and they had been so badly injured they had now committed suicide.

Oh, indeed the Psychlos were very peace-loving people. Honest, kind, good to their friends. Trustworthy. He, himself, made it a rule of his life never to betray a trust.

What? Oh, yes, it was too bad this animal Tyler didn't have the principles and morals of a Psychlo. Yes, he agreed someone should have taught him to be honest and upright when he was young.

Oh, no, the Psychlos would never think of counterattacking. They weren't a military nation and Intergalactic was only a mining company, only interested in struggling along and staying at peace with the universe. Badly misunderstood people, the Psychlos.

After they left, Lars was very gratified at all the Pyschlo practice he had had, and the shadow under the pole was seemingly desirous of further conversations. Terl hugged himself enough to crush his rib bones.

He would get off Earth, that was for sure. His plans were really sparking! What a lucky break. He would have made it without the break, but how easy it all became. He was not only going to get home to his gold, he was going to blow this planet out of the sky. And he was going to take a prisoner with him. They had air chambers on Psychlo. They could question a captive from almost any system for weeks– and very painful weeks they were. Yes, he'd take a prisoner. Not this silly cadet who knew nothing, not that crooked self-serving politician who was too crap-brained to know valuable information from trash, not the animal Tyler since he could be awfully dangerous...well, maybe Tyler if he had no success with anyone else. But it better be somebody else, somebody who would know all their plans and military preparedness...who?