3
here he changed to a more formal tunic of a bright blue he hoped would look impressive to native eyes. By the time he was ready, the helicopter was waiting. He and Haruhiku entered, and the crewman at the controls took off for the scene of the dispute.
Arriving over the village, they hovered a few minutes while Haruhiku studied the lay of the land. The lieutenant had been to this world before, long enough to pick up some of the language and customs, so Mayne was content to follow his advice about landing a little way off from a spaceship that towered outside the village.
They came down about a hundred yards away, between a rutted sort of road and a long hut covered by a curved, thatched roof.
"They're expecting us," said Haruhiku, gesturing at the group before the hut.
It consisted of half a dozen humans and several of the Kappan natives. The latter, naturally, caught Mayne's eye first. The most imposing individual among them stood about five feet tall. The planet being of about the same mass as Terra, the Kappan probably weighed over two hundred and fifty pounds. He was a rugged biped with something saurian in his ancestry; for his skin was scaled, and bony plates grew into a low crown upon his long skull. His arms and legs were heavy and bowed, with joints obscured by thick muscles and loose skin. Mayne was struck by the fancy that the Kappan's color, a blend of brown and olive, was that of a small dragon who had achieved a good suntan. A yellow kilt was his main article of attire, although he wore a few decorations of polished bone.
* * * * *
One of the Terrans stepped forward. He wore a semimilitary uniform.
"I suppose you're Louis Mayne?" he asked.
"Right," answered Mayne. "You would be Captain Voorhis, of the Gemsbok?"
[Illustration]
"Check. This here is Eemakh. He's more or less chief of the village, or tribe, or whatever you wanna call it."
Mayne found his gaze sinking into catlike slits of jet in a pair of huge orange e