he went slowly down to the floor. The fourth said thickly and
reproachfully, "Thought y'were our frien'!"

He collapsed.

Calhoun very soberly tied them hand and foot and laid them out
comfortably on the floor. Maril watched, white-faced, her hand to her
throat. Murgatroyd looked agitated. He said anxiously, "_Chee? Chee?_"

"No," said Calhoun. "They'll wake up presently."

Maril said in a tense and desperate whisper, "You're betraying us!
You're going to take us to Weald!"

"No," said Calhoun. "We'll only orbit around it. First, though, I want
to get rid of those damned packed-up cultures. They're dead, by the
way. I killed them with super-sonics a couple of days ago, while a
fine argument was going on about distance-measurements by variable
Cepheids of known period."

He put the four boxes carefully in the disposal unit. He operated it.
The boxes and their contents streamed out to space in the form of
metallic and other vapors. Calhoun sat at the control desk.

"I'm a Med Service man," he said detachedly. "I couldn't cooperate in
the spread of plagues, anyhow, though a useful epidemic might be
another matter. But the important thing right now is not keeping Weald
busy with troubles to increase their hatred of Dara. It's getting some
food for Dara. And driblets won't help. What's needed is thousands of
tons, or tens of thousands." Then he said, "Overdrive coming,