He pulled the portable voicewrite to a comfortable position in
front of the view wall and began composing another of the series
of letters that had begun months ago in time and parsecs away in
space. His voice was a fluid counterpoint to the soft hum of the
machine.

And as he dictated, his eyes took in the vista through the view
wall. Albertsville was a nice town, too young for slums, too new
for overpopulation. The white buildings were the color of winter
butter in the warm yellow sunlight as the city drowsed in the
noonday heat. It nestled snugly in the center of a bowl-shaped
valley whose surrounding forest clad hills gave mute confirmation
to the fact that Kardon was still primitive, an unsettled world
that had not yet reached the explosive stage of population growth
that presaged maturity. But that was no disadvantage. In fact,
Kennon liked it. Living could be fun on a planet like this.

It was abysmally crude compared to Beta, but the Brotherhood had
opened Kardon less than five hundred years ago, and in such a
short time one couldn't expect all the comforts of civilization.

It required a high population density to supply them, and while
Kardon was integrated its population was scarcely more than two
hundred million. It would be some time yet before this world
would achieve a Class I status. However, a Class II planet had
some advantages. What it lacked in conveniences it made up in
opportunities and elbow room.

A normal Betan would have despised this world, but Kennon wasn't