"I'm all right, I'm all right." He looked at Narvi and the memories, at least a few of them, came fluttering into place. The temporary amnesia slipped aside and the veil began to rise. "You're sure you're all right, Lors?" "Yes, Narvi. Things are beginning to make sense. Tell me about what I'm doing here." Narvi cursed angrily. "Commander Imry, the stupid thistlebug! It's all his fault! All this fouled up thing is his doing. It would have been bad enough even without your ship crashing; that just added to it. Luckily, Imry has been ordered back. Someone back home heard of his idiotic plan and the government is yelling for his hide." "What plan? I ... can't..." Thesa came in with a glass of water and handed it to Lors, who sipped at it slowly while the big blond explained things to him. While Narvi talked, it all began to come into sharp focus in his mind. "After you and I finished campaigning on Darkkan and Thista, we applied for assignment in this galaxy. They wanted to split us up, at first," Narvi grinned, "but we got mad, so they left us together and we were shipped here under old Commander Imry. After a couple of years, Terran time, studying on Mars we became agents on this planet. I got an easy one here with Thesa, but Imry had bigger plans for you. Damn him!" "But why are we spying on these people, Narvi? For war?" "I hope not. The Terrans are getting close to space travel, and you know what that would do to our colonies in this galaxy. They're entering a primitive Atomic civilization and they're like little children playing with weapons. Oh, they're serious enough, but they're so damned careless they're likely to ruin the planet in atomic wars..." "Sounds like the ancient history of our own planet," Lors said softly. The memories were coming in faster now. "True. And you know what happened to us? Damned near lost the whole planet. Anyhow, you know the other planets in this galaxy? Well, since Terra has a life form like ours, we could use this place as a link in the supply chain. That is our main purpose. Trade. "But these people have a strange attitude. Why, if we would land a ship now, they'd rip us to shreds before you knew it. These people fear what they don't understand, and anything they can't understand they kill. So, right now, we're sending agents, or spies, down here with instructions to probe about. They're coming along rather well, getting out of the trees, you might say; but we'll have to keep an eye on them for awhile yet." Lors finished the water. "But what has this got to do with Commander Imry and me? Apparently I was to take the place of Nick Danson, but why?"