"Foreman," Bartok again interrupted. "Should see if this alien can destroy the Hog, however long it takes." The other Maximums began commenting. I fumbled with the head harness. The guards restrained me, but Quesnay gestured from his box and mumbled above the din, "Let, uh, the alien--ah, speak. Would like to, uh, hear him." The guards removed the straps. I massaged my chin and croaked, "Your Perfectness." I cleared my throat noisily. "Your Perfectness, I agree that I should hunt the Hog." "What, ah, is he saying?" Quesnay grumbled. "Cannot understand a, uh, word." I spoke more distinctly. "I'll be happy to leave as soon as the Ap-GG-12C returns, if you'll let me hunt the Hog while I'm here. I'll guarantee to kill him, if you cooperate, but with three conditions." "Of course, conditions," Eijkman said hopefully. "According to GG regulations, I must investigate the place of a carnivorous life form in the bionomics of a planet or continent and decide if destroying it would be harmful." "Can doubt the Hog should be killed?" Bartok yelled. "In three years, he and sows have killed 237 Maggiese!" Foreman Eijkman sneered, "Can import more hogs. The continent swarms with them. Since Criminal Alien Kinlock believes should not kill the Hog--" "I didn't say that!" I almost snarled. My feet throbbed from too much standing. "I'll give an example, also about hogs. "Many centuries ago on Mother Earth, in a place called Sumatra, there were animals like the hellcat of Four, Alpha Gruis, except they were smaller and had stripes. These cats sometimes ate men, but hunters liked to kill them whether they were man-eaters or not. As the cats decreased, the wild hogs in Sumatra increased. The hogs started eating the crops, mostly some plant, called palms, from which oil was taken. The hogs practically destroyed the economy of Sumatra, because the cats, which had checked the hog population, had been destroyed." Bartok said. "Clever fable. All the Hog eats is us and domestic animals. And killing him will not destroy his species." "I'll accept that," I said. "The second condition is that I must learn if the Hog has near-human intelligence, and if we can communicate with him." Eijkman laughed harshly. "Communicate? The Hog has no intelligence." "Very well. The last condition is that you must pay my fee, since this private planet makes no donations to Galactic Government." I impulsively doubled my rates and said, "My fee is one thousand x-tops, fifty coupons, to be paid when I've killed the Hog." Eijkman said, "Gangster!" Macready said, "Give him platinum bars. Have too many now." I raised my voice above the arguing. "There's a standard form in my Travel Book. It relieves GG of any consequences and guarantees that I be paid. It must be signed by the highest authority on the planet." "The Jury is head here!" Eijkman said. "Order!" His Perfectness mumbled from above, "Give, uh, the alien the form."