"I am honored." Impulsively she took the garland of flowers which she had been making and put it around his neck. When she came close, the subtle perfume of her hair was unmistakable--like the smell of pine needles on a mountain trail; new grass during a spring rain; or the crisp, winter air after a fall of snow. Perfume sharply symbolic of freedom, heady and intoxicating, numbing his mind with the ghosts of half-remembered dreams. "I was coming to your ship with the others," she said, "but I stopped here to swim, as I often do. I'm afraid I stayed too long, day-dreaming on the bank; time means so little to us." Shyly she put her hand in his. "But, perhaps, no harm is done, since you are still alone. If you have taken no one else, will I do?" "I--I don't understand." "You are strangers; we want you to feel welcome." "Niaga, people don't--that is--" He floundered badly. Intellectually he knew he could not apply the code of his culture to hers; emotionally it was a difficult concept to accept. If his standards were invalid, his definitions might be, too. Perhaps this society was no more primitive than--No! A mature people would always develop more or less the same mechanical techniques, and these people had nothing remotely like a machine. "You sent us a gift," she said. "It is only proper for us to return the kindness." "You have made a rather miraculous use of the language machine in a remarkably short period of time." "We applied it to everyone in the village. We knew it would help your people feel at ease, if we could talk together in a common tongue." "You go to great pains to welcome a shipload of strangers." "Naturally. Consideration for others is the first law of humanity." After a pause, she added very slowly, with her eyes fixed on his, "Mr. Lord, do you plan to make a colony here?" "Eventually. After we repair the ship, I hope to negotiate a trade treaty with your government." "But you don't intend to stay here yourself?" "I couldn't." "Have we failed in our welcome? Is there something more--" "No, Niaga, nothing like that. I find your world very--very beautiful." The word very inadequately expressed what he really felt. "But I'm not free to make the choice." She drew in her breath sharply. "Your people, then, hold you enslaved?" He laughed--uneasily. "I'm going home to manage Hamilton Lord; it's the largest trading company in the Federation. We have exclusive franchises to develop almost five hundred planets. It's my duty, Niaga; my responsibility; I can't shirk it." "Why not--if you wanted to?" "Because I'm Martin Lord; because I've been trained--No, it's something I can't explain. You'll just have to take my word for it. Now tell me: how should I go about negotiating a treaty with your people?" "You spoke of the government, Martin Lord; I suppose you used the word in a symbolic sense?" "Your chieftain; your tribal leader--whatever name you have for them." * * * * *