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“I’m not even certain it was fully conscious on his part; I’m not sure he knew why he disliked us. All he was convinced of was that we were arrogant and thought we were better than he is. It’s kind of hard for us to see that a person would be that deeply hurt by seeing the plain truth that someone else is obviously better at something than he is, but you’ve got to remember that an Earthman is brought up to believe that every person is just exactly as good as every other–and no better. A man may have a skill that you don’t have, but that doesn’t make him superior–oh, my, no!

“Anyway, I started out by apologizing for our habit of standing up all the time. I managed to plant the idea in his mind that the only thing that made him think we felt superior was that habit. I’ve even got him to the point where he’s standing up all the time, too. Makes him feel very superior. He’s learned the native customs.”

“I get you,” Alhamid said. “I probably contributed to that inferiority feeling of his myself.”

“Didn’t we all? Anyway, the next step was to take him around and introduce him to some of the execs in the government and in a couple of the Companies–I briefed ’em beforehand. Friendly chats–that sort of thing. I think we’re going to have to learn the ancient art of diplomacy out here if we’re going to survive, George.

“The crowning glory came this afternoon. You should have been there.”

“I was up to here in work, Larry. I just couldn’t take the time off to attend a club luncheon. Did the great man give his speech?”

“Did he? I should hope to crack my helmet he did! We must all pull together, George, did you know that? We must care for the widow and the orphan–and the needy, George, the needy. We must be sure to provide the fools, the idiots, the malingerers, the moral degenerates, and such useful, lovable beings as that with the necessities and the luxuries of life. We must see to it that they are respected and permitted to have their dignity. We must see to it that the dear little things are permitted the rights of a human being to hold his head up and spit in your eye if he wishes. We must see to it that they be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the Earth.”

“They’ve already done that,” Alhamid said caustically. “And they can have it. Let’s just see that they don’t replenish the Belt. So what happened?”

“Why, George, you’ll never realize how much we appreciated that speech. We gave him a three-minute rising ovation. I think he was surprised to see that we could stand for three minutes under a one-gee pull in the centrifuge. And you should have seen the smiles on our faces, George.”

“I hope nobody broke out laughing.”

“We managed to restrain ourselves,” the governor said.

“What’s next on the agenda?”

“Well, it’ll be tricky, but I think I can pull it off. I’m going to take him around and show him that we do take care of the widow and the orphan, and hope that he assumes we are as solicitous toward the rest of his motley crew. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck. You may need it.”

“Same to you. Take care of Danley.”

“Don’t worry. He’s in good hands. See you, Larry.”

“Right.”

* * * * *

There were three space-suited men on the bleak rocky ground near the north pole of Pallas, a training area of several square miles known as the North Forty. Their helmets gleamed in the bright, hard light from a sun that looked uncomfortably small to an Earthman’s eyes. Two of the men were standing, facing each other some fifteen feet apart. The third, attached to them by safety lines, was hanging face down above the surface, rising slowly, like a balloon that has almost more weight than it can lift.