"So have we," Ryan said ugly. "The first answer was the right one. We've been scaring pigs to death and watching them, scaring and watching. We learned nothing. You knew we wouldn't. You set us up for this. It's like you said. You fed all of these beasts your stuff in advance, something that acts when they get excited...." It didn't make sense, but then it never had. You couldn't argue with prejudice. He was "different." He didn't act like they did. He didn't believe the same things. He was the outsider, therefore suspect. The alien on an alien world. Ekstrohm sighed. Man would always be the final alien, the creature man would never understand, sympathize with or even tolerate. There was no point in trying to argue further, Ekstrohm realized. "You'll never understand, Ryan. You could have seen all the things I saw if you'd bothered to look, but you were too anxious to blame me. But if I can't make you understand, I can at least beat you into acceptance." "Huh?" Ryan ventured. "I said," Ekstrohm repeated, "that I'm going to beat some sense into your thick skull." Ryan grinned, rippled his massive shoulders and charged. * * * * * Ekstrohm remembered the lesson Shortie had taught him with Big Boy. He didn't meet the captain's charge head on. He sidestepped and caught Ryan behind the ear with his fist. The big man halted, puzzled. Ekstrohm sank his fist into the thick, solid belly. Slowly, Ryan's knees gave way and he sank towards the ground. When his chin was at the right level of convenience, Ekstrohm put his weight behind his right. Ryan swayed dreamily backward. But he threw himself forward and one ham of a fist connected high on Ekstrohm's cheek. He was shaken to his toes, and the several hours' old pain in the back of his head throbbed sickeningly. One more like that would do for him. Ekstrohm stood and drove in a lot of short punches to Ryan's body, punches without much power behind them because he didn't have it. But he knew better than to try a massive attack on a massive target. When he couldn't lift his arms any more, Ekstrohm stopped punching. He realized Ryan had fallen on his face a few seconds before. Then he remembered, and whirled. He had left his back exposed to Nogol. Nogol smiled. "I'm not drawing Hazard Pay." After a while, Ekstrohm stopped panting and faced Nogol and the captain who was now sitting, rubbing his jaw. "Okay," he said, "now you'll listen or I'll beat your skulls in. I know what's behind all of this on this planet." "Yeah? What do you think it is, Stormy?" Ryan asked. "First of all, I think there's a basic difference between this world and any other the ExPe has investigated." "Now what could that be?" Nogol wanted to know with a tiny smile.