"At ease, Lieutenant." Devall sat on the edge of Leonards' bed and squinted up at him. "Son, you're in very hot water now." "Sir, I--" "I know. You didn't mean to pluck leaves off the sacred bramble-bush, and you couldn't help shooting down the native who attacked you. And if this business were as simple as all that, I'd reprimand you for hotheadedness and let it go at that. But--" "But what, sir?" Devall scowled and forced himself to face the boy squarely. "But the aliens want to try you themselves. They aren't so much concerned with the murder as they are with your double act of blasphemy. That withered old high priest wants to take you before an ecclesiastical court." "You won't allow _that_, of course, will you, Colonel?" Leonards seemed confident that such an unthinkable thing could never happen. "I'm not so sure, Paul," Devall said quietly, deliberately using the boy's first name. "_What_, sir?" "This is evidently something very serious you've committed. That high priest is calling a priestly convocation to deal with you. They'll be back here to get you tomorrow at noon, he said." "But you wouldn't turn me over to them, sir! After all, I was on duty; I had no knowledge of the offense I was committing. Why, it's none of their business!" "Make _them_ see that," Devall said flatly. "They're aliens. They don't understand Terran legal codes. They don't _want_ to hear about our laws; by theirs, you've blasphemed, and blasphemers must be punished. This is a law-abiding race on Markin. They're an ethically advanced society, regardless of the fact that they're not technologically advanced. Ethically they're on the same plane we are." Leonards looked terribly pale. "You'll turn me over to them?" Devall shrugged. "I didn't say that. But look at it from my position. I'm leader of a cultural and military mission. Our purpose is to live among these people, learn their ways, guide them as much as we can in our limited time here. We at least _try_ to make a pretense of respecting their rights as individuals and as a species, you know. "Well, now it's squarely on the line. Are we friends living among them and helping them, or are we overlords grinding them under our thumbs?" "Sir, I'd say that was an over-simplification," Leonards remarked hesitantly. "Maybe so. But the issue's clear enough. If we turn them down, it means we're setting up a gulf of superiority between Earth and these aliens, despite the big show we made about being brothers. And word will spread to other planets. We try to sound like friends, but our actions in the celebrated Leonards case reveal our true colors. We're arrogant, imperialistic, patronizing, and--well, do you see?" "So you're going to turn me over to them for trial, then," the boy said quietly.