Monument

'They're unprincipled scoundrels,' Wembling said. 'We have a right to demand protection. I can't keep men on the job if they're in terror of their lives.'

'How many men have you lost?'

'Why, none. But that isn't the natives' fault.'

'You haven't lost anybody? What about property? Have they been damaging your equipment or supplies?'

'No,' Wembling said. 'But only because we've been alert. I've had to turn half my crew into a police force.'

'We'll see what we can do,' Vorish said. 'Give me some time to get the feel of the situation, and then I'll talk with you again.'

Wembling summoned two burly bodyguards, and hurried away. Vorish strode on along the beach, returned a sentry's salute, and stood looking out to sea.

'There's nobody out in front of us, sir,' the sentry said. 'The natives—'

He halted abruptly, challenged, and then saluted. Smith came down the slope, nodded at Vorish, and faced west.

'What'd you get?' Vorish asked.

'There's something mighty queer about this situation. These 'raids' Wembling talked about — the natives usually come one at a time, and they don't come armed. They simply sneak in here and get in the way — lie down in front of a machine, or something like that— and the work has to stop until someone carries them away and dumps them back in the forest.'

'Have any natives been hurt?'

'No. The men say Wembling is pretty strict about that. It's gotten on the men's nerves because they never know when a native is going to pop up in front of them. They're afraid if one did get hurt the others would come with knives or poison arrows, or some such thing.'

'From what I've seen of Wembling, my sympathy is with the natives. But I have my orders. We'll put a line of sentry posts across the peninsula, and distribute some more about the work area. It's the best we can do, and even that will be a strain on our personnel. Some of the specialized ratings are going to howl when we assign them to guard duty.'

'No,' Smith said. 'No, they won't. A couple of hours on this beach are worth eight hours of guard duty. I'll start spotting the sentry posts.'

Vorish went back to the Hiln, and became the target of an avalanche of messengers. Mr. Wembling would like to know. . Mr. Wembling suggests. . If it would not be too much trouble. . Compliments of Mr. Wembling. . Mr. Wembling says. . At your earliest convenience. . Mr. Wembling's apologies, but. .

Damn Mr. Wembling! Vorish had been on the point of telling his communications officer to put in a special line to Wembling's office. He breathed a sigh of relief over his narrow escape, and gave a junior officer the full-time assignment of dealing with Wembling's messengers.

Smith strode in out of the darkness from his job of posting the sentries. 'Native wants to see you,' he said. 'I have him outside.'

Vorish threw up his hands. 'Well, I heard Wembling's side of it. I might as well hear theirs. I hate to ask, but I suppose Wembling will let us have an interpreter.'

'He might if he had any, but he hasn't. These natives speak Galactic.'

'Now look here.' He paused, shook his head. 'No, I see you aren't joking. I guess this planet is just different. Bring him in.'

The native introduced himself as Fornri, and confidently clasped Vorish's hand. His hair blazed vividly red in the cold glow of the overhead light. He accepted a chair, and sat down calmly. 'I understand,' he said, 'that you are members of the Space Navy of the Galactic Federation of Independent Worlds. Is that correct?'

Vorish stopped staring long enough to acknowledge that it was correct.

'In behalf of my government,' Fornri said, 'I ask your assistance in repelling invaders of our world.'

'The devil!' Smith muttered.

Vorish studied the native's earnest young face before venturing a reply. 'These invaders,' he said finally. 'Are you referring to the construction project?'

'I am,' Fornri said.

'Your planet has been classified 3C by the Federation, which places it under the jurisdiction of the Colonial Bureau. Wembling & Company have a charter from the Bureau for their project here. They are hardly to be considered invaders.'

Fornri spoke slowly and distinctly. 'My government has a treaty with the Galactic Federation of Independent Worlds. The treaty guarantees the independence of Langri, and also guarantees the assistance of the Federation in the event that Langri is invaded from outer space. I am calling upon the Galactic Federation of Independent Worlds to fulfill its guarantee.'

'Let's have the Index,' Vorish said to Smith. He took the heavy volume, checked the contents, and found a page headed Langri. 'Initial survey contact in '84,' he said. 'Four years ago. Classified 3C in September of '85. No mention of any kind of treaty.'

Fornri took a polished tube of wood from his belt, and slipped out a rolled paper. He passed it to Vorish, who unrolled it and smoothed it flat. It was a carefully written copy of an obviously official document. Vorish looked at the date, and turned to the Index. 'Dated in June of '84,' he said to Smith. 'A month and a half after the initial survey contact. It classifies Langri as 5X.'

'Genuine?' Smith asked.

'It looks genuine. I don't suppose these people could have made it up. Do you have the original of this document?'

'Yes,' Fornri said.

'Of course he wouldn't carry it around with him. Probably doesn't trust us, and I can't blame him.'

He passed the paper over to Smith, who scrutinized it carefully and returned it. 'It would be a little odd for classification of a new planet to be delayed for a year and a half after the initial survey contact. If this thing is genuine, then Langri was reclassified in '85.'

'The Index doesn't say anything about reclassification,' Vorish said. He turned to Fornri. 'Until we were ordered to this planet, we had never heard of Langri, so of course we know nothing about its classification. Tell us how it happened.'

Fornri nodded. He spoke Galactic well, with an accent that Vorish could not quite place. Occasionally he had to pause and grope for a word, but his narrative was clear and concise. He described the coming of survey men, their capture, and the negotiations with the officers of the Rirga. What followed brought scowls to their faces.

'Wembling? Wembling was the first ambassador?'

'Yes, sir,' Fornri said. 'He mocked the authority of our government, insulted our people, and bothered our women. We asked your government to take him away, and it did.'

'Probably he has plenty of political pull,' Smith said. 'He got the planet reclassified, and got himself a charter. Pretty effective revenge for a supposed insult.'

'Or maybe he just saw an opportunity to make money here,' Vorish said. 'Was your government given formal notification of the termination of the treaty and Langri's reclassification?'

'No,' Fornri said. 'After Wembling there came another ambassador, a Mr. Gorman. He was a good friend of my people. Then a ship came and took him and all of the others away. We were told nothing. Next came Mr. Wembling with many ships and many men. We told him to leave, and he laughed at us and began to build the hotel.'

'He's been building for nearly three years,' Vorish said. 'He isn't getting along very fast.'

'We have hired an attorney many worlds away,' Fornri said. 'Many times he has obtained the conjunction, and made the work stop. But then each time the judge has stopped the conjunction.'

'Injunction?' Smith exclaimed. 'You mean you've made a lawsuit out of this?'

'Bring Lieutenant Charles in here,' Vorish said. Smith routed the Hiln's young legal officer out of bed. With the help of Charles they quizzed Fornri at length on the futile legal action taken by the