"It's an affliction sent by the gods." "The gods would never do anything like that!" she declared confidently. How primitive she is, he thought, and, then, angrily, how provincial I am! He had never stopped to think about it, but he knew of no married couple who had not at least one offspring; he and Embelsira were the only ones. It hadn't occurred to the X-T specialists that a species whose biological assets were roughly the same might have different handicaps. Apparently there was no such thing as sterility on Damorlan. "Are you really an Earthman, then, Balt?" she asked timidly. She had spread the news around, ruined him, ruined the work Earth had been doing, perhaps ruined even more than that--and she hadn't even been sure to begin with. But it was too late for recriminations. He had to salvage what little he could--time, maybe; that was all. "Are you going to tell?" he asked. She hesitated. "Do you swear you don't mean my people any harm?" "I swear," he said. "Then I swear not to tell," she said. He kissed her. After all, he thought, it isn't a lie. _I_ don't mean her people any harm. Besides, sooner or later, her mother will get it out of her, so she won't be keeping her part of the bargain. * * * * * The next time he went to Barshwat he knew he would be followed. He tried to shake the follower or followers off, but he couldn't be sure he'd succeeded. He found the colonel looking out of the window with an expression of quiet melancholy. If there had been any Earthwomen on Damorlan, Clarey would have thought he'd been crossed in love. "Things are taking a bad turn, Clarey," Blynn said. "There have been certain manifestations of hostility from the natives. Get any hint of it?" "No," Clarey said, taking his usual chair, "not a whisper." The colonel sat down heavily. "Katund's too out of the way. We should've moved you to a city once you'd got the feel of things. But you do go to Zrig occasionally. Haven't you heard anything there?" "Only that an Earthman bought out a cloth merchant's entire stock at one blow." Blynn grinned weakly. "Maybe it was rather an ostentatious thing to do, but the fabric's beautiful stuff." He rubbed his nose reflectively. "Fact is, I've been hearing disturbing rumors. They say some fellow named Kuhak's invented a ground car that can run without tracks." Clarey almost said "Guhak," but caught himself in time. "Nonsense," he scoffed. "The more I know of them, the more surprised I am they ever got as far as inventing the chains." "But they did, no getting around that. This is what Earth's afraid of, you know," he reminded Clarey--unnecessarily. "This is why you were sent here. And, if the rumor's true, it looks as if you weren't needed at all. I got the bad news by myself." "But why should it be that upsetting?" Clarey tried to laugh. "You look as if it were the end of the world."