"there you are!" miss meuhl said, eyeing retief over her lenses. "there are two gentlemen waiting to see you. groacian gentlemen."

"government men, i imagine. word travels fast." retief pulled off his cape. "this saves me the trouble of paying another call at the foreign ministry."

"what have you been doing? they seem very upset, i don't mind telling you."

"i'm sure you don't. come along. and bring an official recorder."

two groaci wearing heavy eye-shields and elaborate crest ornaments indicative of rank rose as retief entered the room. neither offered a courteous snap of the mandibles, retief noted. they were mad, all right.

"i am fith, of the terrestrial desk, ministry of foreign affairs, mr. consul," the taller groacian said, in lisping terran. "may i present shluh, of the internal police?"

"sit down, gentlemen," retief said. they resumed their seats. miss meuhl hovered nervously, then sat on the edge of a comfortless chair.

"oh, it's such a pleasure—" she began.

"never mind that," retief said. "these gentlemen didn't come here to sip tea today."

"so true," fith said. "frankly, i have had a most disturbing report, mr. consul. i shall ask shluh to recount it." he nodded to the police chief.

"one hour ago," the groacian said, "a groacian national was brought to hospital suffering from serious contusions. questioning of this individual revealed that he had been set upon and beaten by a foreigner. a terrestrial, to be precise. investigation by my department indicates that the description of the culprit closely matches that of the terrestrial consul."

miss meuhl gasped audibly.

"have you ever heard," retief said, looking steadily at fith, "of a terrestrial cruiser, the isv terrific, which dropped from sight in this sector nine years ago?"

"really!" miss meuhl exclaimed, rising. "i wash my hands—"

"just keep that recorder going," retief snapped.

"i'll not be a party—"

"you'll do as you're told, miss meuhl," retief said quietly. "i'm telling you to make an official sealed record of this conversation."

miss meuhl sat down.

fith puffed out his throat indignantly. "you reopen an old wound, mr. consul. it reminds us of certain illegal treatment at terrestrial hands—"

"hogwash," retief said. "that tune went over with my predecessors, but it hits a sour note with me."

"all our efforts," miss meuhl said, "to live down that terrible episode! and you—"

"terrible? i understand that a terrestrial task force stood off groac and sent a delegation down to ask questions. they got some funny answers, and stayed on to dig around a little. after a week they left. somewhat annoying to the groaci, maybe—at the most. if they were innocent."

"if!" miss meuhl burst out.

"if, indeed!" fith said, his weak voice trembling. "i must protest your—"

"save the protests, fith. you have some explaining to do. and i don't think your story will be good enough."

"it is for you to explain! this person who was beaten—"

"not beaten. just rapped a few times to loosen his memory."

"then you admit—"

"it worked, too. he remembered lots of things, once he put his mind to it."

fith rose; shluh followed suit.

"i shall ask for your immediate recall, mr. consul. were it not for your diplomatic immunity, i should do more—"

"why did the government fall, fith? it was just after the task force paid its visit, and before the arrival of the first terrestrial diplomatic mission."

"this is an internal matter!" fith cried, in his faint groacian voice. "the new regime has shown itself most amiable to you terrestrials. it has outdone itself—"

"—to keep the terrestrial consul and his staff in the dark," retief said. "and the same goes for the few terrestrial businessmen you've visaed. this continual round of culture; no social contacts outside the diplomatic circle; no travel permits to visit out-lying districts, or your satellite—"

"enough!" fith's mandibles quivered in distress. "i can talk no more of this matter—"

"you'll talk to me, or there'll be a task force here in five days to do the talking," retief said.

"you can't!" miss meuhl gasped.

retief turned a steady look on miss meuhl. she closed her mouth. the groaci sat down.

"answer me this one," retief said, looking at shluh. "a few years back—about nine, i think—there was a little parade held here. some curious looking creatures were captured. after being securely caged, they were exhibited to the gentle groaci public. hauled through the streets. very educational, no doubt. a highly cultural show.

"funny thing about these animals. they wore clothes. they seemed to communicate with each other. altogether it was a very amusing exhibit.

"tell me, shluh, what happened to those six terrestrials after the parade was over?"

fith made a choked noise and spoke rapidly to shluh in groacian. shluh retracted his eyes, shrank down in his chair. miss meuhl opened her mouth, closed it and blinked rapidly.

"how did they die?" retief snapped. "did you murder them, cut their throats, shoot them or bury them alive? what amusing end did you figure out for them? research, maybe? cut them open to see what made them yell...."

"no!" fith gasped. "i must correct this terrible false impression at once."

"false impression, hell," retief said. "they were terrans! a simple narco-interrogation would get that out of any groacian who saw the parade."

"yes," fith said weakly. "it is true, they were terrestrials. but there was no killing."

"they're alive?"

"alas, no. they ... died."

miss meuhl yelped faintly.

"i see," retief said. "they died."

"we tried to keep them alive, of course. but we did not know what foods—"

"didn't take the trouble to find out, either, did you?"

"they fell ill," fith said. "one by one...."

"we'll deal with that question later," retief said. "right now, i want more information. where did you get them? where did you hide the ship? what happened to the rest of the crew? did they 'fall ill' before the big parade?"

"there were no more! absolutely, i assure you!"

"killed in the crash landing?"

"no crash landing. the ship descended intact, east of the city. the ... terrestrials ... were unharmed. naturally, we feared them. they were strange to us. we had never before seen such beings."

"stepped off the ship with guns blazing, did they?"

"guns? no, no guns—"

"they raised their hands, didn't they? asked for help. you helped them; helped them to death."

"how could we know?" fith moaned.

"how could you know a flotilla would show up in a few months looking for them, you mean? that was a shock, wasn't it? i'll bet you had a brisk time of it hiding the ship, and shutting everybody up. a close call, eh?"

"we were afraid," shluh said. "we are a simple people. we feared the strange creatures from the alien craft. we did not kill them, but we felt it was as well they ... did not survive. then, when the warships came, we realized our error. but we feared to speak. we purged our guilty leaders, concealed what had happened, and ... offered our friendship. we invited the opening of diplomatic relations. we made a blunder, it is true, a great blunder. but we have tried to make amends...."

"where is the ship?"

"the ship?"

"what did you do with it? it was too big to just walk off and forget. where is it?"

the two groacians exchanged looks.

"we wish to show our contrition," fith said. "we will show you the ship."

"miss meuhl," retief said. "if i don't come back in a reasonable length of time, transmit that recording to regional headquarters, sealed." he stood, looked at the groaci.

"let's go," he said.

retief stooped under the heavy timbers shoring the entry to the cavern. he peered into the gloom at the curving flank of the space-burned hull.

"any lights in here?" he asked.

a groacian threw a switch. a weak bluish glow sprang up.

retief walked along the raised wooden catwalk, studying the ship. empty emplacements gaped below lensless scanner eyes. littered decking was visible within the half-open entry port. near the bow the words 'ivs terrific b7 new terra' were lettered in bright chrome duralloy.

"how did you get it in here?" retief asked.

"it was hauled here from the landing point, some nine miles distant," fith said, his voice thinner than ever. "this is a natural crevasse. the vessel was lowered into it and roofed over."

"how did you shield it so the detectors didn't pick it up?"

"all here is high-grade iron ore," fith said, waving a member. "great veins of almost pure metal."

retief grunted. "let's go inside."

shluh came forward with a hand-lamp. the party entered the ship.

retief clambered up a narrow companionway, glanced around the interior of the control compartment. dust was thick on the deck, the stanchions where acceleration couches had been mounted, the empty instrument panels, the litter of sheared bolts, scraps of wire and paper. a thin frosting of rust dulled the exposed metal where cutting torches had sliced away heavy shielding. there was a faint odor of stale bedding.

"the cargo compartment—" shluh began.

"i've seen enough," retief said.

silently, the groacians led the way back out through the tunnel and into the late afternoon sunshine. as they climbed the slope to the steam car, fith came to retief's side.

"indeed, i hope that this will be the end of this unfortunate affair," he said. "now that all has been fully and honestly shown—"

"you can skip all that," retief said. "you're nine years late. the crew was still alive when the task force called, i imagine. you killed them—or let them die—rather than take the chance of admitting what you'd done."

"we were at fault," fith said abjectly. "now we wish only friendship."

"the terrific was a heavy cruiser, about twenty thousand tons." retief looked grimly at the slender foreign office official. "where is she, fith? i won't settle for a hundred-ton lifeboat."

fith erected his eye stalks so violently that one eye-shield fell off.

"i know nothing of ... of...." he stopped. his throat vibrated rapidly as he struggled for calm.

"my government can entertain no further accusations, mr. consul," he said at last. "i have been completely candid with you, i have overlooked your probing into matters not properly within your sphere of responsibility. my patience is at an end."

"where is that ship?" retief rapped out. "you never learn, do you? you're still convinced you can hide the whole thing and forget it. i'm telling you you can't."

"we return to the city now," fith said. "i can do no more."

"you can and you will, fith," retief said. "i intend to get to the truth of this matter."

fith spoke to shluh in rapid groacian. the police chief gestured to his four armed constables. they moved to ring retief in.

retief eyed fith. "don't try it," he said. "you'll just get yourself in deeper."

fith clacked his mandibles angrily, eye stalks canted aggressively toward the terrestrial.

"out of deference to your diplomatic status, terrestrial, i shall ignore your insulting remarks," fith said in his reedy voice. "let us now return to the city."

retief looked at the four policemen. "i see your point," he said.

fith followed him into the car, sat rigidly at the far end of the seat.

"i advise you to remain very close to your consulate," fith said. "i advise you to dismiss these fancies from your mind, and to enjoy the cultural aspects of life at groac. especially, i should not venture out of the city, or appear overly curious about matters of concern only to the groacian government."

in the front seat, shluh looked straight ahead. the loosely-sprung vehicle bobbed and swayed along the narrow highway. retief listened to the rhythmic puffing of the motor and said nothing.