Direct action had been applied to their
present problem--now the rest was up to Van, and he was willing to
delegate all responsibility.
But they were not left long to themselves. The door opened once more to
admit star rank Patrolmen. None of the Free Traders arose. As members of
another Service they considered themselves equals. And it was their
private boast that the interests of Galactic civilization, as
represented by the black and silver, often followed, not preceded the
brown tunics into new quarters of the universe.
However, Rip, Ali, Dane, and Weeks answered as fully as they could the
flood of questions which engulfed them. They explained in detail their
visit to the E-Stat, the landing in the Big Burn, the kidnapping of Hovan.
Dane's stubborn feeling of being in the right grew in opposition to the
questioning. Under the same set of circumstances how would that
Commander--that Wing Officer--that Senior Scout--now all seated
there--have acted? And every time they inferred that his part in the
affair had been illegal he stiffened.
Sure, there had to be law and order out on the Rim--and doubly sure it
had to cover and protect life on the softer planets of the inner systems.
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