"Martian mountain wine," she warned him. "Rather overwhelming if you're not used to it, and sometimes even if you are...." Her eyes rested on the general. "But there are no mountains on Mars," Clarey said, startled. "That's it!" Spano chortled. "When you've drunk it, you see mountains!" And he filled his glass again. While they ate, he told Clarey about Damorlan--its beautiful climate, light gravity, intelligent and civilized natives. Though the planet had been known for two decades, no one from Earth had ever been there except a few selected government officials, and, of course, the regular staff posted there. "You mean it hasn't been colonized yet?" Clarey was relieved, because he felt he should, as an Archivist, have known more about the planet than its name and coordinates. "Why? It sounds like a splendid place for a colony." "The natives," Spano said. "There were natives on a lot of the planets we colonized. You disposed of them somehow." "By co-existence in most cases, Sub-Archivist," Spano said drily. "We've found it best for Terrans and natives to live side by side in harmony. We dispose of a race only when it's necessary for the greatest good. And we would especially dislike having to dispose of the Damorlanti." "What's wrong with them?" Clarey asked, pushing away his half-finished crême brulée a la Betelgeuse with a sigh. "Are they excessively belligerent, then?" "No more belligerent than any intelligent life-form which has pulled itself up by its bootstraps." "Rigid?" Clarey suggested. "Unadaptable? Intolerant? Indolent? Personally offensive?" * * * * * Spano smiled. He leaned back with half-shut eyes, as if this were a guessing game. "None of those." "Then why consider disposing of them?" Clarey asked. "They sound pretty decent for natives. Don't wipe them out; even an ilf has a right to live." "Clarey," the girl said, "you're drunk." "I'm in full command of my faculties," he assured her. "My wits are all about me, moving me to ask how you could possibly expect to use a secret agent on Damorlan if there are no colonists. What would he disguise himself as--a touring Earth official?" He laughed with modest triumph. Spano smiled. "He could disguise himself as one of them. They're humanoid." "_That_ humanoid?" "That humanoid. So there you have the problem in a nutshell." But Clarey still couldn't see that there was a problem. "I thought we--the human race, that is--were supposed to be the very apotheosis of life species." "So we are. And that's the impression we've conveyed to such other intelligent life-forms as we've taken under our aegis. What we're afraid of is that the other ilfs might become ... confused when they see the Damorlanti, think they're the ruling race." Leaning forward, he pounded so loudly on the table both the others jumped. "This is our galaxy and we don't intend that anyone, humanoid or otherwise, is going to forget it!"