Watts paced back and forth, his hands clasped behind his back. "Harris, you're a doctor, and I suppose you know what you're talking about. But look at the situation here. We have a garrison, a good modern garrison. We're probably the most modern outfit in the system. Every new device and gadget is here that science can produce. Harris, this garrison is one vast machine. The men are parts, and each has his job, the Maintenance Crew, the Biologists, the Office Crew, the Managerial Staff. "Look what happens when one person steps away from his job. Everything else begins to creak. We can't service the bugs if no one services the machines. We can't order food to feed the crews if no one makes out reports, takes inventories. We can't direct any kind of activity if the Second in Command decides to go out and sit in the sun all day. "Thirty people, one tenth of the Garrison. But we can't run without them. The Garrison is built that way. If you take the supports out the whole building falls. No one can leave. We're all tied here, and these people know it. They know they have no right to do that, run off on their own. No one has that right anymore. We're all too tightly interwoven to suddenly start doing what we want. It's unfair to the rest, the majority." * * * * * Harris nodded. "Chief, can I ask you something?" "What is it?" "Are there any inhabitants on the asteroid? Any natives?" "Natives?" Watts considered. "Yes, there's some kind of aborigines living out there." He waved vaguely toward the window. "What are they like? Have you seen them?" "Yes, I've seen them. At least, I saw them when we first came here. They hung around for a while, watching us, then after a time they disappeared." "Did they die off? Diseases of some kind?" "No. They just--just disappeared. Into their forest. They're still there, someplace." "What kind of people are they?" "Well, the story is that they're originally from Mars. They don't look much like Martians, though. They're dark, a kind of coppery color. Thin. Very agile, in their own way. They hunt and fish. No written language. We don't pay much attention to them." "I see." Harris paused. "Chief, have you ever heard of anything called--The Pipers?" "The Pipers?" Watts frowned. "No. Why?" "The patients mentioned something called The Pipers. According to Bradshaw, the Pipers taught him to become a plant. He learned it from them, a kind of teaching." "The Pipers. What are they?" "I don't know," Harris admitted. "I thought maybe you might know. My first assumption, of course, was that they're the natives. But now I'm not so sure, not after hearing your description of them." "The natives are primitive savages. They don't have anything to teach anybody, especially a top-flight biologist." Harris hesitated. "Chief, I'd like to go into the woods and look around. Is that possible?" "Certainly. I can arrange it for you. I'll give you one of the men to show you around."