"A man of my calibre," he said then, his face grim. "Dealing with savages." He caught himself again and threw a hasty glance at Joe. The perplexed frown had grown heavier on Joe's face. He looked at the colonel in puzzlement. * * * * * Walsh turned from Joe and raised the stun gun. I wondered if he had yet realized that Joe was one of a million Joes scattered all over this planet, that Joe was all the natives on Venus. That Joe was all the natives everywhere throughout the galaxy. I looked at Walsh's eyes. He was a sick man, alone with his thoughts in the middle of a stinking jungle. "I'm on my way out, Major," he said, "but you won't get a chance to succeed where I've failed. No. Oh no. I'll see to that." "And you had to come all the way to Venus to do it?" "Don't joke," Walsh snapped. "Don't joke, Major. It's not funny. It's not funny at all." "It's pretty sad, I'd say." "You can't afford to say anything," Walsh remarked drily. "You're going to be dead in a very few minutes." Joe's eyes widened, and I saw indecision cross his features as he tried to understand what had happened to the game. "What'll they say back on Earth when they hear about this?" I asked. "When will they hear about it? Four, five months from now? By then, my little trip will have been forgotten. Besides, I'm here on a routine check. Everyone knows that." "A routine check on Venus? Mars is your territory." "One of my men is up here," Walsh said. "That gives me temporary jurisdiction. At least enough to visit the planet and see how conditions are. Anyway, I'll be home long before Joe here carries your body in." Joe shook his head imperceptibly but Walsh didn't catch it. "A casualty in the jungle," Walsh continued. "The native will return to the Station and explain the accident. I'll be back on Earth long before he reaches there." "Sure," I said, "nice and simple. You kill me and Joe delivers the news and takes the rap. Good old sucker Joe." "That's about enough out of you," Walsh said. "Go ahead, Colonel," I shouted. "Pull the trigger. Then run off and leave Joe to...." "I said that's enough out of you!" Walsh shouted. I turned to face Joe. His mouth was drawn across his face in a tight emotionless line. He stepped in front of me and stared at Walsh. "Get out of the way," Walsh commanded. Joe shook his head slowly. "This is not what you told me. A friend, you said. A surprise. You said you wanted to...." "Get out of the way, you damned sav...." With one swift movement Joe leaped forward. The knife gleamed in his hand and there was momentary panic on Walsh's face. The stun gun snapped up. It crackled once in the Venusian jungle, its blast blinding me for a moment. It shuddered through Joe's left arm and paralyzed it momentarily. But the hand with the knife was hacking away at Walsh's throat, the blood dripping down over the silver planet on the collar of his tunic. I made my report to Bransten.