,,the ,,chemically ,,pure ,,warriors ,,by ,,allen ,,kim ,,lang ,they conquered the planet and they owned it outright4 ,the trouble was--they didn't dare set foot on it6 ,transcriber's ,note3 ,this etext was produced from ,worlds of ,if ,science ,fiction1 ,july #aifb4 ,extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the ,u4,s4 copyright on this publication was renewed4 ,from the head of the platoon ,lieutenant ,lee ,hartford signaled ,sergeant ,felix1 busy policing up stragglers at the rear1 that he was taking over4 ,hartford tongued the volume-setting of his bitcher to ,low and softly sing-songed to his three dozen troopers3 ,your girlfriend's just an hour away2 there's a time to soldier and a time to play4 ,pick it ,,hup1 ,,hup1 ,,hup6 ',toon1 tain-,,hut4' ,,hup1 twop1 threep1 furp2 ,,hup1 ,,hup2 ,,hup1 twop1 threep1 furp4 ,mondrian1 pick up the cadence2 you're marching like a man with a paper pelvis4 ,swing 'em six to the front and three to the rear2 ,when you sing to your ,daddy1 sing it loud and clear4 ,hartford turned up the volume4 ,three weeks in the woods1 eating squeeze-tube beans2 ,we'd be better off in the ,fleet ,marines4 ,sound off6 ,,one1 ,,two1 boomed the voice of the ,terrible ,third1 sounding from the bitchers at the chests of thirty-six safety-suits4 ,dust slapped up from marching-boots4 ,a flock of scarlet blabrigars settled on the road ahead1 chattering and watching like small boys4 ,sound hoff6 ,,three1 ,,four6 ,the road led uphill toward ,stinkerville2 they were some three miles from ,first ,regiment ,barracks4 ,three miles from now these troopers could shed their safety-suits and helmets1 shower off three weeks of sweat1 drink a beer and leer at the short-skirted1 taut-haltered girls of the ,service ,companies4 ,who are we8 ,hartford chanted4 ,,company ,c1 the troopers blatted back4 ,the blabrigars1 fluttering up from the roadway1 chanted too3 ,who are we8 ,company ,see4 ,who1 we8 ,see1 see4 ,company ,see ,are ,wee ,see ,see4 ,these wild birds didn't memorize human speech as well as their captive cousins2 they garbled their mockeries immediately4 ,the flock settled into the sunflowers beside the road2 and were joined by a pair of wild camelopards1 chewing sunflower-leaf cud as they peered at the marching ,axenites4 ,hartford looked about1 but there were no ,stinkers--,kansans--in sight4 ,these natives didn't care to watch the occupying regiment stir up their homeland's dust4 ,what platoon8 ,hartford called1 his voice magnified by the bitcher till the whole column could hear him4 ,,third ,,platoon1 the men bellowed back1 singing against the percussion of their boots4 ',toon1 click1 click1 click2 'toon1 click1 third platoon1 click1 mocked the blabrigars in ragged chorus1 reflecting both the words and the marching feet4 ,best platoon8 ,,third ,,platoon6 the men shouted4 ,they'd turned up their bitchers to a volume the blabrigars couldn't match4 ,disgusted1 the birds flapped their scarlet wings and flew off across the sunflower fields4 ',toon1 one rear-flier chanted1 'toon1 'toon1 'toon4 ,worst platoon8 ,hartford asked4 ,,first ,,platoon6 ,that was for the benefit of ,lieutenant ,piacentelli1 commanding the tail-end of the ,regiment1 the platoon marching on either side of the lumbering ,decontamination ,vehicle1 their safety-suit filters clogging with the dust4 ,sound off6 ,hartford shouted4 ,,one1 ,,two6 99 99 99 99 99 ,that'll rattle the windows in ,stinkerville1 ,hartford thought4 ,he pitched his descant louder and higher4 ,sound off6 ,,three1 ,,four6 ,run 'er on down6 ,,one1 ,,two1 ,,three1 ,,four2 ,,one1 ,,two1 ,,threep--,,furp6 ,the men of ,the ,terrible ,third were grinning through the face-plates of their helmets1 rejoicing in their reputation as the loudest bunch in the ,regiment1 happy to help ,hartford in waging his mock-feud with ,lieutenant ,piacentelli4 ,they'd been classmates at the ,axenite ,academy2 they'd been room-mates in the ,barracks until ,pia's recent marriage to a ,service ,company officer4 ,hartford lowered his bitcher to a confidential tone4 ,square up1 men2 march tall2 look rough and dirty4 ,show the ,stinker girls what they're missing4 ,,hup1 ,,hup1 ,,hup4 ,sling those rifles square4 ,mondrian1 you march like you're wearing skis3 ,,hup1 twop1 threep1 furp6 ,up and down the column came the commands of sergeants and platoon-commanders1 getting their troopers in parade-trim for the march through ,kansannamura3 ,stinkerville4 ,somewhere up front a company was singing the anthem of the ,axenite troopers1 ,oh1 ,pioneers6 ,the chorus of twelve dozen men1 their bitchers full-up1 filled the ,kansan air and echoed from the walls ahead4 ,stinkerville1 all white-washed1 with flakes of mica glittering in the sunlight1 sprawled across the road that led to the ,barracks4 ,the village wall1 designed to keep wild camelopards from roaming the streets and to keep the tame beasts out of the sunflower-fields1 was some eight feet tall4 ,some ,indigenous ,hominid had heard the ,regiment's clatter and song1 for the gates of ,kansannamura were open1 the brick streets were clear of ,stinker commerce4 ,the village seemed deserted4 ,a few blabrigars perched on the tiled eaves of the rammed-earth houses1 making echoic comments on the sounds of the troopers1 singing fleeting snatches of ,oh1 ,pioneers6 ,a camelopard stretched its ridiculous1 three-horned head at the end of its fathom of neck to peer1 big-brown-eyed1 at the caravan of fishbowl-headed men4 ,up at the head of the column the ,regiment's flags were unfurled and the ,regimental ,band was skirling the ,anthem2 men were counting cadence as their boots clicked over the scrubbed bricks of ,stinkerville's streets4 99 99 99 99 99 ,but no ,kansan1 ,stinker1 ,indigenous ,hominid1 ,gook or ,native watched4 ,no cowboy youngsters stared at the gunned-and-holstered men from another planet4 ,no elders looked down their noses at the brash invaders4 ,no mothers wiped their hands on their aprons as they thought of their sons1 and the fleshly price they'd pay for freedom4 ,no teenage girls1 those patrons of parades1 watched with lips half-open with apprehension and audacious thoughts about the hundreds of gift-wrapped young man marching past4 ,this planet could have as well been named ,coventry as ,kansas1 ,hartford thought4 ,out the far gate of ,kansannamura marched ,third ,platoon1 ,company ,c1 then ,first ,platoon1 flanking the ,decontamination ,vehicle4 ,a villager came from the house nearest the gate and closed it4 ,he did not look after the two columns of men winding up through the fields of sunflowers to the high plateau where they lived4 ,the sight of the ,barracks gave the men's steps a new swing and spring4 ,after three weeks of sleeping in safety-suits2 of breathing1 sweating1 drinking1 eating and excreting through germ-barrier valves and tubing1 the prospect of stripping off the plastic battle-dress was seductive4 ,inside that eight stories of windowless1 doorless stone were gardens where the troopers could walk barefoot on the grass1 pools whose water could splash their naked skin4 ,in the ,barracks were the three hundred ,service ,company women who made the big stone box home to their three thousand men4 ,the men of ,first ,regiment massed on the parade-ground4 ,while they stood ,at ,ease1 their plastic-sleeved rifles and packs growing heavier by the minute1 their safety-suits staler1 four of the five ,service ,companies marched out from the ,syphon to join them4 ,the women were suited in yellow plastic1 giving rise to the gags about fool's gold4 ,the four golden companies took up position at the center of the ,regiment4 ,colonel ,benjamin ,nef1 ,commander-in-,chief1 ,kansas1 ,,cinck1 climbed to the reviewing-stand in his command safety-suit of scarlet4 ,facing into the sun1 the ,colonel had the polarizing shield dropped over his eyes1 and seemed to be wearing a black bandage4 ,his lower jaw beetled to give him a truculent look generally ratified by his actions4 ,his hair glinted through the helmet like spun copper4 ,nef turned to his second-in-command1 a lieutenant-colonel in ordinary officer's blues1 and murmured instructions4 ,the light colonel saluted1 turned the controls of his bitcher to ,full ,loud1 and addressed the troopers assembled3 ,regiment4444 ,down the chain-of-command came the ripple of warning3 ,battaaalion4444 ,commmpaneee4444 ',toooon4444 ,tain-,,hut6 ,fifteen hundred pairs of boots smacked together4 ,the ,adjutant held up his clipboard and read precisely3 ,attention to orders3 ,one4 ,officer of the ,guard1 ,lieutenant ,lee ,hartford4 ,two4 ,,cinck commends troopers involved in the just-completed three-week ,field ,exercise on not having had a single incident of compromise of sterility4 ,household1 ,maintenance and ,security troopers are complimented on having maintained the integrity of the ,barracks with a much-reduced force4 ,three4 ,all male and female troopers are again cautioned that fraternization with ,indigenous ,hominids is an offense punishable by ,general ,court-,martial1 and that any unauthorized intercourse with the natives is prohibited4 99 99 99 99 99 ,there was of course a murmur of automatic laughter at this last bit of official double-entendre4 ,the idea of bedding-down a ,stinker wench was a favorite bit of pornographic fantasy4 ,an air-tight safety-suit1 though fit with valves as functional as the drop-seat in long-johns1 was no garment for romance4 ,to undress1 to appear in outdoor ,kansas outside that head-to-foot sausage-casing1 appealed to none of the troopers4 ,healthy young men and women don't entertain the thought of painful suicide4 ,the reporting officer about-faced1 saluted ,colonel ,nef1 about-faced again4 ,present4444 ,preezent4444 ,preeezent4444 ,preeeezent4444 ,,hahms6 ,fifteen hundred ,dardick-rifles1 sheathed in plastic1 slapped perpendicular4 ,the blue-clad officers1 armed with pistols1 touched their index fingers to their helmet-temples4 ,the bandsmen's drums growled1 the electronic horns sobbed against their mutes1 and the flutes in lonely purity played the theme of ,oh1 ,pioneers6 ,for all his har-de-har-hardness1 ,hartford felt a sting in his eyes at this moment1 as he did whenever the splendidly stage-managed ceremony of ,retreat was performed4 ,after the ,anthem1 much louder1 the band played ,retreat4 ,the colors crept down the flagstaff1 into the reverent arms of a pair of ,service ,policemen4 ,oh-deph1 ,,hahms6 ,by line-of-battalions1 line-of-companies1 line-of-platoons1 line-of-squads1 return to quarters and dismiss6 ,the light colonel made one last salute to ,,cinck1 and the little ballet on the reviewing-stand was over4 ,the troopers were now free to go in to their showers1 their latrines1 their suppers1 and their women4 ,at ease1 ,hartford told the ,terrible ,third4 ,rest4 ,smoke if you've got 'em4 ,the men chuckled dutifully at the oldest joke in the service4 ,an ,axenite trooper1 sealed in his germ-free safety-suit and helmet1 is by definition a non-smoker outside his ,barracks4 ,it would be another hour they'd be outside1 since the ,third was next to the last of the fifty platoons to swim home through the ,syphon4 ,while the companies on the far left flank of the ,regiment were ballooning-up and peeling-off in columns-of-squads to enter the ,barracks1 ,hartford went back to talk with ,piacentelli1 ,c4,o4 of ,first ,platoon4 ,,ii ,getting inside the ,barracks was a production4 ,the safety-suits worn outside presumably bore on their outer surfaces all the dust-borne bugs native to ,kansas4 ,to carry these bacteria into the ,barracks1 to be inspired and ingested by ,axenites--humans who'd never before had a bacterium inside their bodies--would wipe out the ,regiment4 ,axenites are chemically pure people4 ,they have no immuniological experience4 ,their gamma-globulin is low1 their intestinal walls are thin4 ,they may be killed by a light salting of staphyllococci1 a soupcon of strep1 or just a pinch of ,b4 subtilis1 a buglet as innocuous to normal humans as the dust-motes it inhabits4 ,the ,syphon was the only entrance to the ,barracks4 ,it opened as the ,wet ,gut1 a ramp leading downward into liquid disinfectant which finally filled a tunnel1 which ran the length of the ,barracks4 ,each trooper1 as he walked down into the disinfectant1 grabbed the hand-holds at either side to pull himself along4 ,half-swimming through a turbulent portion that tugged at his suit with cavitations designed to loose the gummiest particle of bug-dirt1 he came to a quieter section where he wormed along in silence1 watching the man ahead of him1 his stay in the antiseptic gauged to make the outside of his safety-suit as germ-free as the inside4 ,the ,wet ,gut ended in an upslope4 ,the troopers walked out1 dripping1 into a hallway returning in the direction from which they'd just swum4 ,this upper arm of the ,syphon was a hallway so brilliantly lighted that the trooper had to drop his polarizing shields over his eyes4 ,the air here in the ,hot ,gut was spiced with ozone from the ultra-violet sources4 ,as each man strode down the ,hot ,gut at a set pace1 his suit was bathed in u-v light from lamps in the ceiling1 floor and walls4 ,just as he was washed sufficiently in the ,wet ,gut to kill the sturdiest-shelled spore of anthrax1 the most insistently cysted protozooan1 in the ,hot ,gut he was laved in actinic radiation powerful enough to afford a one hundred per cent safety factor against his bringing viable bug-dirt into the ,barracks4 ,at the very end of the ,syphon1 so that his safety-suit wouldn't stink of disinfectant or crack from ozone-rot1 the trooper was blasted from all sides by a needle-shower of sterile water4 ,then he was home4 ,the platoon to the left of the ,terrible ,third had ballooned and was column-of-squadding toward the entrance to the ,syphon4 ,at ease1 men1 ,hartford said4 ,increase suit-pressure one pound4 ,open and check reserve air-tanks4 ,close off filters4 ,the men blimped a bit4 ,their suits sausaged out around their arms and legs4 ,should some trooper have a pinhole in his safety-suit1 the positive pressure within would keep the deadly antiseptic solution from seeping in4 ,okay1 men4 ,first squad off to the sheep-dip4 ,check the man ahead of you for bubbles4 ,this is ,save-,your-,buddy ,week1 ,hartford said4 99 99 99 99 99 ,fat-legged and stiff1 the men of ,third ,platoon waddled through the doorway and down the ramp into the bug-juice4 ,one by one they went under1 tugging themselves along through the turbulent area1 past that2 then turning over in three planes so that the man behind them could spot bubbles coming from any part of their safety-suit4 ,a leak1 of course1 meant ,decontamination4 ,decontamination meant an all-over shave1 a load of antibiotics and quarantine4 ,but it was better that one man should suffer this from time to time than that the ,barracks should be sullied with a single bit of germ-laden dust4 ,the pale-green murk of the ,wet ,gut and the desert brightness of the ,hot ,gut were the gates of home1 and welcome4 ,hartford saw the ,terrible ,third off to their quarters1 then got together with ,piacentelli to go up to ,officers' ,country4 ,it was good to un-clam helmets and breathe the inside air1 smelling faintly green from having swept across the gardens on ,level ,eight4 ,hartford shucked off his blue suit and draped it over a refreshing unit4 ,the device buzzed into action1 washing1 drying and recharging the safety-suit with fresh filters and reserve air and water4 ,the moment the refresher had grunted an okay to his safety-suit1 ,hartford carried it1 clean and sweet as the day it had left the ,goodyear plant on ,titan1 to hang it up in his locker1 ready for his next foray onto bug-dirt4 ,piacentelli was already under a shower4 ,come on1 jay-bird1 he shouted4 ,last one out buys the beers4 ,no contest1 ,hartford said1 setting the shower-dial4 ,i'm gonna stay under water for three weeks4 ,he revolved blissfully beneath cold and angry needles4 ,piacentelli1 snowed in with suds and steam1 yelled through the blasting water4 ,how'd you rate ,o4,g4 the night we get in8 he asked4 ,i thought you were ,nasty ,nef's fairhaired boy4 ,hartford turned off his shower4 ,i got nothing better to do1 he said4 ,he stood on the drier for a minute4 ,i don't mind being ,officer of the ,guard1 so long as ,i can eat supper off a plate instead of through a tube4 ,he stepped into his shorts1 pulled on sneakers and tugged on a tee-shirt that had stenciled over its shoulders the two half-inch gold stripes of his rank4 ,pia dressed in a similar uniform4 ,it isn't the ,messhall ,i miss1 he said4 ,it's this4 ,no number of ingenious engines1 valves and relief-tubes can still my nostalgia for the simple dignity of our ,barracks latrines4 99 99 99 99 99 ,junior ,officers' ,mess was set in what looked like a park1 except that the bushes were tomato-plants and the trees grew apples4 ,the tables were mostly full4 ,all the subalterns getting in a quick sundowner1 ,pia remarked1 finding a two-place table yet untaken4 ,a ,service ,company ,k4,p4 in the brief skirt-and-halter ,class ,b's the women wore informally in the ,barracks came to take their order4 ,big cold beer for me1 honey1 ,pia said4 ,the other gentleman is tonight's ,o4,g41 so he'll have a black1 black coffee4 ,hartford stared after the girl4 ,you're right1 ,pia1 he said4 ,no matter how comfy ,goodyear makes those safety-suits1 home is best4 ,you bachelors are a threat to the ,table of ,organization1 ,piacentelli said4 ,you'd breed us right out of house and home if you had a chance4 ,damned right1 ,hartford said4 ,you could find a girl1 ,piacentelli said4 ,they all itch to get married1 ,hartford explained4 ,they come out to these germy planets like they used to go to ,purdue4 ,the man-woman ratio is in their favor4 ,and biology4 ,pia1 ,i've seen bears you wouldn't glim twice on ,titan turn into love-goddesses after six months here4 ,i'll meet some ,service ,company corporal1 say4 ,she'll look to me like the prettiest li'l thing since ,adam's costectomy1 and ,i'll call in at the ,orderly ,room to have us assigned ,family ,quarters4 ,back at ,home ,base1 she'll turn out to be something you scare kids quiet with4 ,she'll talk all the time1 leave lipstick on drinking-glasses1 or play bridge and talk about it4 ,first thing you know1 ,i'll be volunteering for another five years duty on bug-dirt1 just for a chance to leave her behind4 ,so pick up a local germ1 ,piacentelli suggested4 ,if they can't decontaminate you1 they'll send you to ,earth4 ,lots of women on ,earth4 ,i'd do it1 ,hartford said1 but ,i'm still more scared of microbes than lustful for a woman4 ,here's ,dimples with our chow4 ,dimples8 ,piacentelli asked as the girl came up with their tray4 ,watch her when she walks away1 ,hartford suggested4 ,you must keep a carton of goat-glands under your bunk1 ,lee1 ,piacentelli said4 ,marriage isn't all bad4 ,i've done pretty well with ,paula4 ,hartford nodded4 ,paula ,piacentelli1 a lieutenant in the ,service ,companies1 was a pretty decent sort4 ,where is she now8 he asked4 ,she'll be on the ,status ,board tonight1 ,piacentelli said4 ,you'll be in the ,board ,room with her4 ,lee1 ,i've got a favor to ask you4 ,as ,o4,g4 you'll be in charge tonight4 ,paula will be in charge1 ,hartford said4 ,i'll be sleeping4 ,if ,i go outside1 though1 it will need your okay as well as ,paula's1 ,piacentelli said4 ,who's going outside with you8 ,that's the sticky bit1 ,piacentelli said4 ,i'd like to go outside alone4 99 99 99 99 99 ,want to run in the rain in your little bare skin8 ,hartford asked4 ,mix it up with a ,stinker maiden8 ,paula wouldn't like that4 ,besides1 you might get yourself jack-rolled by some ,indigenous ,hominid who doesn't like ,axenites running his planet4 ,i want to work on my ,kansan-,standard ,dictionary1 ,piacentelli said4 ,bug-dirt1 ,hartford said4 ,don't tell lies4 ,all right1 then1 ,piacentelli said4 ,i've got an idea that might lead to the most important discovery ever made on ,kansas4 ,paula suggested it4 ,i want to prove it4 ,tell ,nasty ,nef about your idea1 ,hartford said1 signalling the waitress for a second cup of stay-awake4 ,give ,,cinck something clever to report when the supply ship lands1 and you'll have your silver stripes before ,i will4 ,wouldn't ,paula love that1 though8 ,captain ,piacentelli1 ,i'd have to salute first4 ,nasty ,nef wouldn't consider our idea1 ,piacentelli said4 ,he wouldn't be happy to know that ,i've been studying the ,kansan language1 even4 ,a common humanity between us ,axenites and the ,indigenous ,hominids is a notion not welcome to the world of ,colonel ,nef4 ,brother ,nef1 ,i might say4 ,hartford leaned against the table to press a fist against ,piacentelli's propped elbow4 ,don't say that1 ,pia1 he whispered4 ,i'm not political2 ,i'm not interested2 ,i don't care whether the ,brotherhood even exists4 ,yes1 ,virginia2 there is a ,brotherhood1 ,piacentelli said4 ,and our ,nasty ,nef is a ,brother4 ,he's a number of things1 ,hartford said4 ,he's our ,,co2 he's ,,cinck2 he's an ,,sob4 ,but he's our boss1 and ',brotherhood' is a dangerous word4 ,he sipped his coffee4 ,tell you what1 ,pia4 ,if you want to go out and talk ,gook with the ,gooks1 ,i'll fix it for you to draw picket duty tonight4 ,the man who's got picket has been married only a month1 and spent three weeks of that in a safety-suit out in the woods4 ,i'm sure he'll relinquish to you the pleasure of a night's romp as picket officer4 ,can you do it8 ,an ,o4,g4 can do anything1 during those hours when his superior officers are asleep1 ,hartford said4 ,you're a buddy1 ,piacentelli said4 ,i'll give you free tutoring in ,kansan for the rest of our tour4 ,do mo arigato gazaimashita1 ,hartford said4 ,thanks to your mumbling the stuff in our room1 ,i already talk like a ,stinker4 ,he stood up4 ,i'm going down to the ,board ,room4 ,pick your companion for picket1 and come on down when you've dressed4 ,hartford bowed1 ,kansas-style4 ,shitsurei itashimasu ga 444 he said politely1 and left to assume his duties as ,o4,g4 ,,iii ,as one of the seventy-six male lieutenants of the ,regiment1 ,hartford pulled ,o4,g4 about once every eleven weeks4 ,his ,terrible ,third drew duty with him as ,guard ,platoon4 ,all of them could expect to sleep through the night undisturbed1 unless ,nasty ,nef held a dry-run1 falling them out for a ,simulated ,problem4 ,nef was tired tonight1 though2 the ,guard could sleep4 ,only the two men on picket and the handful of ,service ,company personnel on duty at the ,status ,board need stay awake tonight4 ,awake or sleeping1 the security of ,first ,regiment would rest this night in the hands of ,lee ,hartford4 ,it was he who bore the final responsibility for allowing no living thing to enter the ,barracks except in a well-scrubbed safety-suit2 for assuring that the air his sleeping comrades breathed was sterile and dustless2 that the ,syphon's poisonous bug-juice was of the proper p,h and germicidity2 and for checking that the whereabouts of every ,axenite on ,kansas was reflected on the ,status ,board4 ,that these duties were complex was attested by the assignment of a ,service ,company officer to the ,board1 a woman who would watch the ,board's bands of lights and meters every moment4 ,hartford could sleep2 he was the ,responsible ,male4 ,mrs4 ,paula ,piacentelli1 #a_/,lt4 ,s4,c4 7,gnotobiotics ,spec471 had to remain awake3 she was the ,knowledgeable ,woman4 ,hartford found ,paula already at her work in the ,board ,room4 ,only a bit over five feet tall1 ,piacentelli's wife was concentrated woman of the most splendid sort4 ,when ,hartford had told her that ,pia was taking the picket1 she frowned4 ,i hope he doesn't plan anything foolish4 ,me8 ,foolish8 ,piacentelli demanded from the elevator4 ,he walked up1 clammed shut in his blue safety-suit1 ready to hit bug-dirt4 ,under one arm he carried a package sheathed in opaque plastic4 ,behind him1 in the gray safety-suit of an enlisted trooper1 was a man ,hartford recognized as ,corporal ,bond1 machine-gunner from ,pia's platoon4 ,lieutenant ,gabriel ,piacentelli reporting with one man1 ,sir and ,ma'am1 he said1 saluting his wife and ,hartford4 ,at ease1 ,weenie-head1 ,hartford said4 ,with you and ,bond on picket amidst the sunflowers1 ,i won't sleep a wink all night4 ,he turned to the corporal4 ,did you sure-enough volunteer for this duty8 he asked4 ,yes1 sir6 ,bond said4 ,i voluntarily assumed the duty of absorbing a fifth of ,lt4 ,piacentelli's ,class-,,vi ,scotch4 ,the ,lieutenant was kind enough to reciprocate by offering me this tour4 ,he gave you ,scotch8 ,hartford turned to ,piacentelli4 ,gabe1 for a jug of ,scotch ,i'd have gone on picket with you myself4 ,what's that you're taking outside with you8 ,lunch8 ,a microscope1 ,piacentelli said4 ,i'm doing a little research for ,paula4 ,his wife nodded4 ,a gnotobiotics technician1 responsible for maintaining the bacteriological security of the ,barracks1 she had business with microscopes4 ,want to give me the word on this romp of yours8 ,hartford asked4 ,standard picket1 ,lee1 ,piacentelli said4 ,i'll learn a little ,kansan1 take care of ,paula's project and tell you all about it when we get back4 99 99 99 99 99 ,let's see your weapons4 ,hartford inspected ,bond's ,dardick-rifle and ,piacentelli's ,dardick-pistol4 ,both weapons were loaded1 clean and wrapped up for their trip through the ,wet ,gut in plastic sleeves4 ,the trucks and heavy weapons stayed outside on bug-dirt4 ,the lighter weapons and all ammunition came back inside the ,barracks with the troopers who carried them4 ,the weapons were detail-stripped on each re-entry1 irradiated with u-v and fit with fresh sleeves4 ,as had been discovered with the first axenic animals1 in the #aicj's1 keeping a mammal germ-free is a formidable task4 ,when that mammal is a human being and a soldier the job is double-tough4 ,check out a jeep1 ,hartford said4 ,report each half-hour4 ,don't shoot any ,stinkers 444 sorry1 ,i mean ,indigenous ,hominids4 ,try not to hit a camelopard with the jeep2 we're low on replacement parts4 ,in fact1 be careful4 ,okay1 ,pia8 ,done and done1 ,exalted ,one4 ,hartford dropped his voice4 ,i'd feel easier in my mind if ,i knew what's so important as to require your desertion of our mutual womb tonight1 ,pia4 ,language study1 you might say1 ,piacentelli replied4 ,ha6 ,so desa ka8 ,hartford replied4 ,that's so much bug-dirt1 and you know it4 ,ha6 ,piacentelli said4 ,see you at dawn4 ,take care of my wife1 buddy4 ,aren't you going to kiss her good night8 ,hartford asked4 ,pia grinned through his clammed-shut helmet and clomped to the elevator with ,bond4 ,they were en route to the ,hot ,gut and the ,wet ,gut1 the twisting hallway from the sterile ,first ,regiment ,barracks to the living night of ,kansas4 ,hartford turned4 ,paula ,piacentelli wore the short skirt1 knee-hose and short-sleeved blouse of ,pioneer green that was the ,class ,b uniform for females inside the ,barracks4 ,she looked1 ,hartford thought1 remarkably delectable2 and he again congratulated his friend on his luck in getting her4 ,he returned his attention to the ,status ,board1 which ,paula was conning4 ,two red lights flickered on above the ground-floor diagram of the ,barracks1 indicating that the two men of the picket had entered the ,hot ,gut4 ,a moment later these lights blinked off1 and two lighted over the diagram of the ,wet ,gut4 ,piacentelli and ,bond were swimming now1 towing their weapons in ballooning plastic sleeves4 ,sterile1 on their way out into a filthy world1 these two men were the outpost that would protect through the night their hundreds of brothers and sisters sleeping safe in utero4 ,freud1 thou shouldst have lived this hour6 ,hartford mused4 99 99 99 99 99 ,piacentelli turned the ignition key of the jeep he'd chosen4 ,with the starting cough of the engine1 one of the rank of ,,tv screens over the ,status ,board lighted4 ,the camera eye was looking out the rear-view mirror of the jeep1 and picked up ,pia's helmeted head and the shoulder of his companion4 ,we're off to see the ,wizard1 the ,wonderful ,wizard of ,oz6 ,piacentelli sang4 ,his wife spoke into the microphone before her4 ,don't do anything foolish1 ,lieutenant1 she said4 ,and remember1 all transmissions are recorded and are audited1 at random1 by the ,base ,commander4 ,transmission received1 receiver contrite1 ,piacentelli reported back4 ,okay1 ,paula-,darling4 ,from now on till ,bond and ,i swim home1 we'll be as military as ,,gi soap4 ,he flicked the ,,tv monitor around to look out the windshield and started the jeep down the road toward ,stinkerville4 ,the duty of the picket was to chug around outside at random1 hitting all the cross-roads1 settlements and high spots of the countryside near the ,barracks2 to interview late-riding ,indigenous ,hominids and inquire their business being out2 to conduct such searches of ,stinker homes and hideaways as might seem useful to the occupying ,axenites2 and to remain at all times in contact with the officers on duty at the ,status ,board4 ,as the picket got underway1 ,hartford went down to the ,terrible ,third's area to check quickly through the two-man apartments4 ,knock on the door2 ,as you were1 ,troopers4 ,a brisk inspection of two safety-suits1 gaping beside their owners' bunks like firemen's boot-sheathed pants4 ,the men were quiet4 ,guard-duty meant that any socializing with ,service ,company troopers was impossible for a night1 and militated against any intake of alcoholic beverage4 ,it was a bore1 especially after three dry and womanless weeks in the field4 ,hartford visited his ,platoon ,sergeant last3 ,sergeant ,felix1 could you have our bunch standing on bug-dirt ten minutes after ,i blew the whistle8 ,very well1 then4 ,good night1 ,felix4 ,having demonstrated to his troopers that he was suffering the same strictures as they1 ,hartford went back to the ,o4,g4 cubicle in the ,board ,room4 ,he checked his own safety-suit1 his plastic-packaged ,dardick-pistol1 said good night to ,paula ,piacentelli and lay down to begin his first night's sleep outside a safety-suit in three weeks4 ,but sleep didn't come easily4 ,there was the murmur from the ,board ,room2 ,piacentelli's half-hourly reports4 ,nothing to report1 ,paula4 ,i'm at ,road ,junction 7#da-ag74 ,no ,i4,h4 activity4 ,no excitement at all4 ,continue random patrol1 ,lieutenant4 ,yes1 ,dear4 ,i'm going to run down to ,kansannamura 7#db-ai7 for my next call-in4 ,carry on1 ,lieutenant4 ,pia was in the best possible hands with ,paula on duty1 ,hartford mused4 ,the ,status ,board was really a woman's job4 ,the girls of the ,service ,companies were the house-keepers of the ,barracks1 the guardians of the ,regimental lares and penates4 ,paula1 for example1 had as her primary duty gnotobiotic control3 the maintenance of the whole germ-free system of the ,barracks1 from the ,hot--,wet ,guts to safety-suit inspection and the upkeep of the ,decontamination ,vehicles4 ,behind the women on ,board-duty1 however1 was always at least one male1 combat-trained ,officer of the ,guard1 ready 7once awakened and briefed by the female help7 to take armed men into the field4 ,but meanwhile1 ,hartford wanted to sleep4 99 99 99 99 99 ,half an hour passed1 and at its end ,pia made his report3 ,picket reporting1 ,paula4 ,i'm going into the village4 ,corporal ,bond will remain with the jeep1 and will keep the transmitter open till ,i get back4 ,okay8 ,be careful1 ,lieutenant1 ,paula ,piacentelli said1 combining affection with military formality4 ,hartford1 deciding that sleep was impossible1 got up and cold-showered4 ,dressing in fresh ,class ,b's1 he walked out to join ,paula at the ,status ,board4 ,the ,,tv screen showed ,bond1 the sheathed ,dardick-rifle slung over his shoulder1 pacing back and forth in front of the jeep1 glancing from time to time toward the walls of ,kansannamura1 white in the light of the skyful of stars4 ,he was nervous1 evidently aware of the fact that ,kansas was largely unexplored1 her potential for midnight mayhem untested4 ,bond spoke across his shoulder4 ,the lieutenant has been gone for a quarter hour1 ,ma'am1 he said4 ,do you want me to go in and ask him to come out8 ,wait another quarter-hour1 ,corporal1 ,paula said4 ,she explained to ,hartford1 ,what he's got to do may take a little time4 ,they watched the screen4 ,bond climbed back into the jeep1 where he sat with his rifle between his knees1 sweeping his attention around him1 at the village1 at the road behind1 at the sunflower-fields1 where the blossoms were bleached white and the leaves enameled black by starlight4 ,with ,paula's agreement1 ,hartford pressed the microphone-switch to talk with ,bond4 ,have you tried to tap ,piacentelli on his suit-receiver1 ,corporal8 ,yes1 sir1 ,bond said4 ,first thing4 ,no answer4 ,turn your bitcher full up1 then1 ,hartford said4 ,tell ,lieutenant ,piacentelli that the ,o4,g4 wants him out on the road within five minutes4 ,done and done1 sir4 ,bond tongued the bitcher's controls to ,full ,volume and repeated the message4 ,echoes bounced back from the walls of ,stinkerville and lost themselves in the tangle of sunflowers4 ,no one answered4 ,the village seemed as much asleep as it had been before ,bond's bellow4 ,the ,kansans were never hasty to volunteer response to ,axenites2 they knew that troopers meant trouble4 ,piacentelli is busy at something1 ,hartford said1 as much to reassure himself as ,pia's wife4 ,i think ,i'll go out and have a look4 ,he spoke to ,bond3 ,get out of the jeep1 but stay close to it4 ,report any haps immediately4 ,watch for lights1 listen for small-arms fire4 ,done and done1 sir4 ,hartford phoned ,felix1 his platoon sergeant4 ,report to the ,board ,room to sub for me1 he said4 ,wake the ,platoon ,guide and tell him to stand ready to fall the ,guard out1 but not to wake anyone else yet4 ,this is probably a nothing1 ,felix2 ,lt4 ,piacentelli just went for a walk in ,stinkerville4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,command ,light1 top in the tier of all the hierarchy of red-yellow-green-white ,status-,board indicators1 flashed alive4 ,a nothing8 ,nasty ,nef's voice demanded4 ,what sort of talk is that1 ,lieutenant8 ,if ,i've been properly interpreting the past five minutes' transmissions1 we've got an ,axenite officer stranded in the middle of a ,stinker village4 ,this1 ,mister1 is not a nothing4 ,call out the ,guard4 ,prepare to join me in a ,stinkerville shakedown4 ,those ,gooks got to learn they can't play fast-and-easy with ,axenite troopers4 ,done and done1 sir6 ,hartford snapped4 ,he toggled the phone to get ,felix back4 ,felix1 fall the boys out beside the ,syphon4 ,we've got the ,old ,man hitting bug-dirt with us1 so look sharp4 ,the colonel's going out with us8 ,felix asked4 ,yes4 ,there must be more to this situation than meets the company-grade eye1 ,hartford said4 ,diaper-up our darlings and stand by in the ,hot ,gut1 ,felix4 ,done and done6 ,twenty seconds later a figure in ,santa ,claus red came clashing into the room4 ,hartford1 half into his blue safety-suit1 came to a clumsy attention4 ,the newcomer1 his helmet clammed shut all ready for contamination1 bellowed1 ,get with it1 ,mister6 ,yes1 sir4 ,hartford fit himself into the suit1 a sort of cockpit1 a congeries of valves1 gauges1 counters and vetters4 ,in a moment he'd sealed himself in the sterile suit1 checked his air-filters and air reserve4 ,the ,guard is assembled in the ,hot ,gut1 sir1 ready to take the field4 ,dam' well better be1 ,nef said4 ,lead off1 ,mister4 ,he turned to ,paula ,piacentelli4 ,send a ,decontamination ,vehicle after us1 ,lieutenant4 ,no telling what those ,stinker devils have cooked up with ,piacentelli4 ,back to ,hartford3 ,you're in command of the ,guard1 ,i'll observe and offer suggestions4 ,tain-,,hut6 ,platoon ,sergeant ,felix saluted the scarlet-clad colonel and the blue-clad lieutenant as they stepped from the elevator into the electric atmosphere of the ,hot ,gut4 ,the ,guard snapped to1 their plastic-packaged ,dardick-rifles at order arms4 ,take 'em out1 ,felix1 ,hartford said4 ,two personnel carriers1 a 4#ej-;caliber m4g4-mounted jeep fore and aft4 ,you and the colonel take the rear jeep2 ,i'll lead4 ,have the men unbag their weapons the instant we're outside4 ,any questions8 ,no1 sir4 ,move out1 ,hartford said4 ,,iv ,the squads peeled off and double-timed down the ,hot ,gut4 ,man by man they dipped into the ,wet ,gut for their swim outside4 ,they'd been drilled for speed in exiting4 ,if the ,regiment were needed outside1 the ,syphon could become a literal bottle-neck4 ,as the last squad splashed into the antiseptic solution1 ,hartford turned to ,colonel ,nef4 ,sir1 ,i have a question1 he said4 ,hurry it up1 ,mister4 ,isn't this a bit extreme1 sir8 ,we're going out to take one man out of a primitive village where we're not even sure he's in trouble4 ,and we're carrying enough firepower to blast into an armed city4 ,i don't trust the ,gooks1 the colonel said4 ,their bucolic way of life may be a fraud1 designed to lull us into complacency4 ,tonight we may discover that they're plotting the overthrow of the ,garrison1 using weapons and tactics they've kept secret4 ,i hope such is the case1 ,lieutenant4 ,it would give us adequate cause to wipe the ,stinkers off ,kansas and make this as clean a world as ,titan4 ,sir4444 ,move1 ,mister1 ,nef said4 ,piacentelli has been in ,stinkerville for fifty minutes4 ,let's get him out4 ,the four trucks roared down the plateau toward the ,indigenous ,hominid hamlet at its foot4 ,when the first ,axenite ,pioneers landed on the planet1 bacteria-free as all men in space had to be1 they'd set up camp near the spot where ,first ,regiment ,barracks now stood4 ,they saw the fields of sunflowers1 grown for food and cloth1 and heard the natives call the nearest village ,kansannamura4 ,from that time on1 this world was ,kansas4 ,there was no moonlight--,kansas has no moon--but the headlamps of the four vehicles were wasted against the bright ribbon of road1 lighted as it was by the sheet of stars that melted together in a metallic ceiling over the night4 ,the men sat with their rifles between their knees1 the plastic sleeves stripped off4 ,each of these ,dardick-rifles could fire a solid stream of death4 ,each round of ammunition was fitted with a matrix that served as chamber1 cartridge and the first fraction-of-an-inch of barrel4 ,a magazine of forty such rounds could be hosed through the rifle in half a second4 ,the troopers sped downhill1 through sunflower fields black and silver in the light of the stars4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the personnel carriers and the jeeps scuffed to a halt by the village gate1 the men scattering like shrapnel1 according to the book4 ,colonel ,nef spoke to ,hartford on the command-band4 ,move in1 ,lieutenant4 ,bring out ,piacentelli4 ,any ,stinker resistance is to be treated as open rebellion4 ,yes1 sir4 ,hartford spoke to his men3 ,first squad1 lead scout1 forward to the gate4 ,the scout1 his plastic safety-suit and the glass of his helmet glinting highlights1 scuttled to the gate4 ,he kicked the gate open--,piacentelli had evidently left it ajar--and entered1 rifle-first4 ,first squad1 follow me in column4 ,open to ,line-of-,skirmishers in the square4 ,second squad1 follow in the same manner4 ,third squad2 maintain your interval and stand ready4 ,hartford ran1 pistol in hand1 through the open gate4 ,it was like charging some ,roman ruin unpeopled for three centuries1 like a field exercise with boulders marking obstacles to be won4 ,there was no sign of natives4 ,their shop-boards hung bearing the picture-script the ,kansans used1 quiet as the marbles in a cemetery4 ,hartford directed first squad in a sweep through the alleys1 searching for ,piacentelli4 ,second squad clattered through the gate behind them1 took up a skirmish line1 and moved in to cover the square as first squad disappeared into the doorways and alleys of ,stinkerville4 ,the village1 except for its beasts1 might have been deserted4 ,these animals1 camelopards used for riding and to carry burdens1 woke and gazed serenely down at the interrupters of their vegetable dreams1 blinking their liquid half-shuttered eyes4 ,boots clattered on cobblestones4 ,the houses were unlighted4 ,throw on your i-r1 ,hartford ordered4 ,as they moved into the dark1 narrow ways1 the men beamed infra-red light from the projectors on their safety-suits1 the bounced-back1 invisible light being transduced to black-and-green chiaroscuro by passage through the stereatronic goggles dropped inside their helmets4 ,turn the ,stinkers out1 ,mister1 ,nef command-banded4 ,into the houses1 ,hartford signaled4 ,ahead1 a boot slammed wood1 and hinges burst4 ,to the restless night sounds of the camelopards in their stalls1 the click of military boots on brick1 and the rustle of rifles against safety-suits was added the whispering of families rousing from their beds4 ,hand in hand from father to mother to elder brother1 down the scale to the youngest1 the ,kansans stumbled out into their little courtyards4 ,ano hito wa dare desu ka8 ,abunai yo6 ,shikata ga nai4444 99 99 99 99 99 ,any sign of ,piacentelli yet8 ,nef demanded4 ,not yet1 sir1 ,hartford signalled4 ,feed a candle into every building1 ,lieutenant4 ,we'll get these ,gooks in the open and interrogate till we find our man4 ,done and done1 sir1 ,hartford said1 stepping out of the way of a little girl fleeing toward the village square with an even littler girl strapped to a pack-board on her back4 ,he passed on the order4 ,fire in ten seconds1 nine1 eight 444 now6 ,each man of first squad tossed a ,lake ,erie ,lightning ,universal ,gas ,candle through the window nearest him4 ,a little over a second later a dozen grenades spit out a cloud of smoke with a hiss like a bursting fire-hose1 and the outer air was filled with an eye-stinging gas4 ,the ,indigenous ,hominids spilled out of their homes in all directions now2 coughing1 choking1 children rubbing the smoke particles into their half-wakened eyes4 ,two camelopards1 blinded like their masters1 blundered into the square1 tears streaming from their reproachful eyes1 twelve feet above the pavement4 ,second squad's men danced clear of the beasts and hallooed them out the gate4 ,somewhere back in an alley a first-squad trooper tapped his trigger1 jetting steel against overhanging roof-tiles4 ,nail that shot1 ,mister6 ,nef demanded4 ,hartford heard the squad leader3 ,it's ,lieutenant ,piacentelli1 sir4 ,he's here4 ,bring him out1 man2 bring him out6 ,nef's excited voice triggered a new string of rifle bursts4 ,hartford tongued his bitcher full-volume3 ,cease fire1 you idiots6 ,piacentelli1 head for the square4 ,stop it1 for ,god's sake1 stop it6 ,piacentelli shouted1 his unamplified voice coming from a smoke-filled alley4 ,hartford plunged into the dark smoke--a tear-gas grenade had set afire some of the sun-flower-paper room dividers1 and kindled with them a row of wooden houses--and shouted for ,piacentelli4 ,a blabrigar1 as blind in the smoke as the men1 blundered against ,hartford's helmet4 ,yuke6 ,yuke6 the bird screamed1 grabbing hold of the transceiver-antenna that horned up from the helmet4 ,hartford grabbed the blabrigar and tossed it up above the melee4 ,he heard it flying in circles1 searching for its ,stinker owners1 chanting the last words they'd said to it3 ,yuke6 ,yuke6 ,yuke6--,go6 99 99 99 99 99 ,everything was burning4 ,even through the safety-suit ,hartford suffered from the heat4 ,he retracted his i-r goggles1 useless in all this smoke4 ,nef called4 ,i'm coming in1 ,mister4 ,hartford acknowledged4 ,great4 ,one more blind man wandering in the smoke was what he needed4 ,he tongued his bitcher loud and shouted2 ,gabe6 ,come this way4 ,gabe6 ,gabe6 ,the heat was intolerable4 ,he positive-pressured his suit1 ballooning the fabric away from his skin4 ,how hot1 he wondered1 would the rounds packed into the butt of his ,dardick-pistol have to get before they exploded8 ,as though in answer1 a snap of gunfire sounded from the fog ahead4 ,some meat-head had spooked4 ,there were more shots as other troopers fired at their fantasies4 ,cease fire1 damn it6 ,nef shouted over the command-circuit4 ,if anyone was hurt by you idiots1 ,i'll court-martial every man with smoke in his gun barrel4 ,hartford hurried on4 ,ahead of him in the alley he heard ,colonel ,nef's voice1 uncharacteristically soft4 ,hartford1 join me4 ,i've found ,piacentelli4 ,ahead in the smoke was a pinkness3 the scarlet-suited commander kneeling above a body on the bricks4 ,here in the open of planetary air1 available to all the microscopic beasts of ,kansas1 ,piacentelli was wearing only ,class ,b's2 his sneakers1 shorts and tee-shirt4 ,the center of the shirt sopped blood from the bullet-hole that funneled into ,axenite ,lieutenant ,piacentelli's chest4 ,nef stood4 ,the ,decontamination ,vehicle should be standing by1 he said4 ,get ,piacentelli outside4 ,we may be able to save him4 ,he sounded unhopeful4 ,hartford draped his friend's body across his shoulder4 ,the smoke was bad1 but he'd memorized his course through it4 ,the air sucked in through his filter was clean1 but hot4 ,his helmet steamed opaque4 ,as he stumbled out1 blind1 but guided by the colonel's voice1 two men came forward to take ,piacentelli over to the ,decontamination ,vehicle parked by the village gate4 ,in the cooler air ,hartford's helmet cleared4 ,a girl gnotobiotician from the ,decontamination ,squad pressed the pickup of her helmet's ears against ,piacentelli's bloody chest4 ,she looked up4 ,he's dead1 sir1 she said4 ,nef's voice boomed from his bitcher4 ,burn the ,stinker village6 he shouted4 ,these ,gooks will pay for ,piacentelli's death with their homes4 ,hartford felt imminent danger of vomiting1 bad business in a safety-suit4 ,he fought it as he looked around4 ,the column of smoke rising from the buildings already fired was sweeping around1 carried by the morning wind that poured off the plateau4 ,everything within the walls of the rammed-earth houses would be incinerated4 ,kansannamura was destroyed4 ,regroup by the vehicles1 ,hartford spoke to his troopers4 ,he walked back to his jeep1 the village flaming behind him4 ,the ,decontamination ,squad checked ,hartford's safety-suit1 and found it sound despite its roasting4 ,piacentelli they cocooned in plastic3 he was contaminated and dangerous4 ,as the five trucks rolled back toward the ,barracks1 they met families of ,indigenous ,hominids1 smoke-stained1 who retreated back into the sunflower-fields as the troopers drew near them4 ,the ,stinkers seemed to have salvaged little from the flames beyond an occasional blabrigar1 perched on an old man's shoulder1 or now and then a camelopard1 fitted with a saddle and carrying a blanket-wrapped bundle of clothing and cooking-pots4 ,v ,hartford had to see ,piacentelli's body placed in the ,barracks morgue1 where a necropsy would be performed by a safety-suited gnotobiotician4 ,it was seldom that an ,axenite was contaminated4 ,rarer yet was the death of a trooper who'd been exposed to bacteria4 ,information held in ,pia's body might someday save lives4 ,hartford1 directing the sealing-off of the morgue from the rest of the ,barracks1 was not comforted by these reflections4 ,he unsuited1 shaved and showered1 and put on fresh ,class ,b's to finish what remained of this ,o4,g4 tour4 ,on his way back up to the ,board ,room he had to pass the morgue again4 ,colonel ,nef1 in the midst of a cluster of lesser ranks1 was there4 ,on a wheeled cart1 covered by a sheet1 was a second body4 ,hartford stopped4 ,what happened1 sir8 he demanded4 ,who is it8 ,nef raised the corner of the sheet with a hand that seemed infinitely weary4 ,the body was ,paula ,piacentelli4 ,another accident1 the ,colonel grunted4 ,a hydroponics corporal1 ,s4,c41 spoke up4 ,she was relieved of duty as soon as she heard about her husband's death1 sir4 ,someone should have stayed with her4 ,she went up to ,level ,eight to be alone4 ,there are only two of us on duty there through the night4 ,she must have blundered off the walkway1 blinded by her tears4 ,however it happened1 she caught hold of a lighting-cable where the insulation was frayed1 and was electrocuted the moment she touched the wet seeding-bed4 ,colonel ,nef found her there4 ,i was going to console her on ,gabriel ,piacentelli's death1 ,nef said4 ,leave the body here and clear out1 all of you4 ,no refrigeration was needed for ,paula's corpse1 of course4 ,an uncontaminated ,axenite was preserved by purity4 ,the body might dry a bit1 the integrity of the internal organs suffer somewhat from the corrosive effects of their own juices3 but ,paula's corpse would otherwise remain uncorrupted until taken outside and buried in bug-dirt4 ,hartford1 ,nef said1 ,i'd like to have a talk with you4 ,i'm still on ,o4,g41 sir1 ,hartford said4 ,and ,i relieve you of that duty1 ,nef snapped4 ,come up to my quarters4 ,nasty ,nef's sitting-room had the only window in the ,barracks1 a skylight through which poured the brilliance of ,kansas's pyrotechnic flood of stars4 ,rest1 ,hartford4 ,sit down4 ,brandy8 ,hartford allowed that he could use some4 ,what do you think of tonight's adventure1 ,lee8 ,nef asked4 ,don't look startled4 ,i know the first name of every officer and non-com in the ,regiment4 ,what happened1 sir1 was horrible1 ,hartford said4 ,i understand your feelings1 ,nef said4 ,two tragic accidents1 killing your two closest friends the same night4 ,i am certain that the loss of these comrades will fire your zeal for getting the ,stinkers under control4 ,isn't that right1 ,lee8 ,nef took a cigar from the humidor next his chair4 ,with all respect1 sir1 ,hartford said1 placing his empty brandy-glass on the table to his right1 ,i can hardly see how the events tonight were caused by the ,indigenous ,hominids4 ,you must use the official name for the ,gooks1 mustn't you8 ,nef mused4 ,his voice turned harsh3 ,someone stripped the safety-suit off ,piacentelli1 ,mister4 99 99 99 99 99 ,hartford nodded1 his face pale4 ,the ,a of the ,axenite's alphabet was ,apprehension4 ,as a germ-free--axenic1 gnotobiotic--human being1 he is superior in most ways to ordinary men4 ,he's usually larger and stronger4 ,he never has dental caries1 pimples1 appendicitis1 the common cold or certain cancers4 ,no matter how much or how long he sweats1 the ,axenite doesn't stink2 nor do his other excretions4 ,on a contaminated world1 however1 the ,axenite is a tender flower indeed4 ,a baby's breath can be death to him1 if that baby be a normal human2 for no microbe is benign to the man without antibodies4 ,to him a drop of rain may reek with pestilence1 the scent of evening may be a lethal gas4 ,i can't understand their stripping ,pia1 sir1 he said4 ,why would they do such a terrible thing8 ,because they're ,stinkers6 ,nef said4 ,can you imagine what it must be like to be one of them8 ,every inch of your skin a-crawl with living filth1 your guts packed with foulness1 your whole frame a compromise with rottenness8 ,do you wonder that they'd delight to make us as unwholesome as they are themselves8 ,colonel ,nef lighted the cigar he'd been mulling4 ,lee1 do you think one ,stinkerville destroyed is too high a price for them to pay for having murdered two ,axenite troopers8 ,for ,piacentelli's wife is as much their victim as her husband4 ,hartford shook his head4 ,i'm not sure1 sir4 ,what bothers me more than anything else is that it's my fault ,pia went out last night4 ,he asked me to arrange for him to replace the scheduled picket officer1 and ,i did4 ,lee1 why was ,piacentelli so anxious to pull this extra duty8 ,nef asked4 ,hartford tried unobtrusively to squirm his chair out of the jet-stream from ,nef's cigar4 ,he told me he wanted to work on the language1 sir1 he said4 ,pia really had such a project4 ,he'd never had contact with anyone with a speech other than ,standard before1 and the problem of transducing one language into another fascinated him4 ,the ,kansans call their speech ,nihon-go4 ,pia taught me to understand some of it4 ,a waste of your time1 ,lee1 ,nef said4 ,you'll never have occasion to speak it4 ,be that as it may1 unless ,piacentelli was attempting to coax a course in ,bedroom ,kansan from a ,stinker maiden1 ,i can hardly understand why his lexigraphical labors should require him to unsuit himself4 ,no1 ,piacentelli was deliberately murdered4 ,i'm puzzled1 sir1 ,hartford admitted4 ,when we tossed those smoke-candles1 ,i heard ,pia shouting for us to stop it4 ,would he have done so if the ,indigenous ,hominids had him captive8 ,why did none of the natives lift a hand against us1 though we were burning their homes8 ,why did ,paula ,piacentelli seem to know why ,pia was going outside tonight8 ,why did he take a microscope with him8 ,why did ,paula kill herself8 99 99 99 99 99 ,don't noise that last 'why' around the ,barracks1 ,mister1 ,nef growled4 ,officially1 she died in tear-blinded grief1 an accident4 ,he smiled4 ,whatever our reason for burning out ,stinkerville1 ,lee1 we got it done4 ,the fact that those half-humans down the hill bred and sweat and poisoned the soil within half an hour's walk has been a stench in my nostrils ever since we got here4 ,now they're gone4 ,i'm as sorry as you that the ,piacentellis are dead4 ,but the manner of their dying was such as to assure ,axenic mankind a new home4 ,i'm not sure ,i understand you1 sir4 ,nef poured them each a second brandy4 ,he raised his2 ,hartford of necessity followed suit4 ,to ,brotherhood1 the colonel said4 ,he stared into ,hartford's eyes4 ,to the ,brotherhood1 he amended4 ,hartford was tired1 confused and in awe of ,nef's rank2 otherwise he might have ventured protest4 ,nef sipped his drink4 ,i must emphasize1 ,lee1 that what ,i say is my opinion only1 not ,axenite policy4 ,you see my point4 ,i do1 sir1 ,hartford said4 ,forgive me1 then1 for prefacing my remarks with a bit of truism1 ,nef said4 ,in all history before gnotobiotic man was cut from his mother through cellophane1 the human being was never pure organism4 ,before us1 every man who ever lived was1 in fact1 one mammal plus the sum of millions of viruses1 rickettsia1 bacteria1 fungi and molds4 ,when the old philosophers asked1 ',what is man8' the answer could only be3 ',foul smell and blood in a bag4' ,we're the first men beyond that1 ,lee4 ,the first real men1 ,true ,men1 members of the winner-species4 ,homo gnotobioticus4 ,we must destroy the bridge that led to us4 ,we must destroy the ,stinkers4 ,not just these quasi-human natives here on ,kansas1 but the ,stinkers on ,earth1 and on every other planet where bug-laden man has followed ,axenite4 ,what chance has ,homo sapiens to match his sapiency against ,homo gnotobioticus1 when he is a bifurcate septic tank1 a polyculture of a thousand kinds of living dirt8 ,hartford finished his brandy1 wishing he were anywhere else than in ,nasty ,nef's quarters1 tired1 ill at ease and a little drunk from the two brandies4 ,what do you propose1 sir8 he asked with ,academy politeness4 ,aha6 ,nef rejoiced1 pouring them each another drink4 ,you justify my trust1 ,lee4 ,you perceive that ,i speak not merely if-ly1 philosophically1 but as a man of action1 leashed only by temporary practicality4 ,he leaned back in his chair and regarded ,hartford more as a sculptor might regard a recent product than a father a son1 with uncritical approval4 ,where were you born1 ,lee8 ,on ,titan1 sir4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i thought so4 ,you have the mark of natal excellence1 ,nef said4 ,you're a second or third-generation ,axenite1 then8 ,third1 sir1 ,hartford said4 ,splendid4 ,your grandparents were from their mothers' wombs untimely ripp'd2 your parents and yourself born normally1 in germ-free ambience4 ,how fortunate we are1 you and ,i6 ,third-generation ,axenites4 ,eff-two of a new race4 ,nef paused in his recital4 ,there is one fact that chafes us1 though4 ,we1 perforce the ,columbuses of tomorrow1 explorers of the planets beyond even the stars we see here on the frontier1 are held back by our ,stinker cousins4 ,they have the proper feeling1 that only pure man might pioneer the alien worlds1 for fear of destroying what he finds there4 ,but who will inherit those planets when we've finished our explorations8 ,who will at the last till the fields of ,kansas8 ,colonists from ,earth1 sir1 ,hartford said4 ,from ,eurus1 ,tinkle1 ,westside1 ,unashamed1 ,t'ang1 ,williams's ,world and ,hope4 ,from all the planets normal man has colonized4 ,doesn't that annoy you1 ,lee8 ,nef asked4 ,that our work's fruit is to be enjoyed by shiploads of ,stinkers8 ,they're as human as we1 sir1 ,hartford said4 ,he smiled4 ,you might say they just haven't had our advantages4 ,you're tender-minded1 ,lee1 ,nef said4 ,we garrison a hundred worlds on the ,frontier1 planets our ,stinker masters mustn't visit yet1 least ,man contaminate some life-form yet unmet4 ,we pioneer1 clear planets as safe1 and move on4 ,for reward1 we ,axenites have three worlds of our own in the ,m',bwene ,system1 axenized for our use2 we have the ,academies on ,luna and ,titan1 and a dome on ,pluto4 ,it's not enough4 ,we are the new men1 the next-comers to humanity4 ,we must have worlds of our own4 ,i1 and the ,brotherhood whose hand here ,i am1 intend that ,kansas shall be ours4 ,what about the ,stinkers8 ,hartford asked4 ,what will happen to them if we decide to axenize ,kansas8 ,maybe they'll leave1 ,colonel ,nef said1 smiling in the manner that had won him the name ,nasty4 ,a few more punitive expeditions like tonight's--an incendiary grenade was thrown at ,kansannamura1 did you know that1 ,lee8 ,i threw it--and we'll have no ,stinkers underfoot4 ,we soon will be able to mop and polish this world to our own high standards4 ,we'll walk this lovely world without safety-suits and breathe unfiltered air4 ,we'll enter into our birthright1 ,lee4 ,nef gazed at his cigar admiringly1 though it had gone out4 ,so much for the moment1 ,brother ,hartford1 he said4 ,perhaps we'd both do well to get some sleep4 ,hartford jumped to attention and formally requested permission to withdraw4 ,nef nodded4 ,hartford about-faced and left the room4 ,,vi ,the things the colonel had told him hadn't fallen into place in his mind yet4 ,hartford was numb of thought4 ,back in his own room in ,b4,o4,q4 the numbness cleared a bit4 ,he poured himself a drink4 ,somehow1 he thought1 he'd become fairhaired boy to an ,attila the ,hun1 an ,alaric the ,goth1 a ,hitler1 a ,haman2 an ,ashurbanipal ,i1 a ,rameses ,,ii4 ,for ,nef was equally with these a servant of ,siva the ,destroyer1 with his plan to make ,man pure4 ,his purification would involve the destruction of all non-axenic men and women all the way from the ,home ,world to the newest beach-head on the ,frontier2 the sterilization of a hundred worlds as culture media for the new race2 and the planting on the newly axenized soil of colonies of ,homo gnotobioticus1 the feeder-on-hydroponic-greens1 the inodorous1 the thin-gutted1 the strong toothed ,superman4 ,nef's pogrom had begun with the raid on the village1 ,hartford mused1 his arms behind his head as he lay on his bunk4 ,nef had decided that this green and pleasant world belonged to the silver men1 the true men1 the new men4 ,us1 ,hartford thought4 ,earth's ,stinkers1 ordinary humanity with its common cold and its caries1 would follow the ,kansan ,indigenous ,hominid1 and the ,great ,auk1 into history4 ,the double funeral of the ,lieutenants ,piacentelli was to be held at ,retreat1 outside the ,barracks4 ,hartford wondered a bit at the haste with which the two bodies were to be consigned to the earth of ,kansas4 ,perhaps haste was necessary because of the micro-organisms with which poor ,pia's corpse was necessarily contaminated4 ,hartford grimaced4 ,contaminated humans must lead disgusting lives4 ,they smelled of ferments1 were bloated with bacterially elaborated gases1 suffered rot in their very teeth4 ,their corpses--poor forefathers6--suffered corruption that would never touch an ,axenite1 whose unembalmed cadaver would last longer than the best-mummified ,pharaoh4 ,whatever mysterious errand it had been that had taken ,piacentelli outside the ,barracks1 it had killed him4 ,it was over4 ,hartford marched the ,terrible ,third into position facing the graves1 cut into the soil at the base of the hundred-foot flagpole4 ,the entire regiment1 less only the handful of men and women necessary to secure the ,barracks1 was on the ,parade ,ground4 ,colonel ,nef1 his scarlet safety-suit brilliant in the light of the setting sun1 stood beside the graves1 a finger of his right gauntlet inserted to mark his place in the black ,book of ,honors and ,ceremonies4 ,the regiment stood at parade-rest as a truck brought the bodies of two comrades through its ranks4 ,as the improvised hearse halted and twelve blue-suited casket-bearers stepped forward to lift the flag-draped boxes1 ,nef called the regiment to attention4 ,the bearers slow-marched the caskets to the graves and placed them on the lowering-devices4 99 99 99 99 99 ,nef's words of funeral were few4 ,he spoke of the dedication of the two ,axenites being laid to rest and bitterly accused the ,stinkers--this word seemed rude1 in so formal a setting--of having murdered the young couple4 ,he spoke of condign justice1 and of revenge4 ,this done1 he called3 ,escort1 less firing-party4 ,present1 ,,hahms6 ,firing-party1 ,,fire ,,three ,,volleys6 ,the shots of the ,dardick-rifles echoed down the plateau to the smoldering village below4 ,the ,regimental ,bugler1 standing between the heads of the graves1 flicked on his instrument4 ,as the last volley spat from the muzzles of the rifles1 the bugler played ,taps4 ,four men stepped forward to recover and fold the green-silk ,pioneer colors1 and the caskets were lowered to corruption in alien earth4 ,the banner crept down the flagstaff1 and the funeral was over4 ,bone-weary1 ,hartford went from the ,syphon to the refresher-room1 where he checked his safety-suit and hung it4 ,another officer was there1 still in his blue safety-suit4 ,hartford wondered sleepily why he'd so long postponed unsuiting4 ,even the fellow's helmet was sealed4 ,our first deaths on ,kansas1 ,hartford remarked1 wanting to coax the man into conversation and learn who he was4 ,i'd never realized till now that we're really soldiers1 subject to violent death and formal burying4 ,the man must be a replacement1 come in on the supply ship a month ago1 ,hartford thought4 ,black hair1 crewcut4 ,tanned4 ,must be from one of the ,m',bwene ,worlds1 where an ,axenite's naked skin can bear unfiltered sunlight4 ,both the ,piacentellis were my friends1 ,hartford said1 determined to coax speech from the stranger4 ,the man's bitcher boomed1 evidently set on full volume4 ,mattaku shirazu1 he said4 ,excuse4 ,pia not teach entire use of ,standard tongue4 ,hartford's right hand tore through the plastic pellicle over his ,dardick-pistol and brought the weapon to bear on the figure before him4 ,you're a ,stinker6 he said4 ,pia's safety-suit--that's the suit you're wearing4 ,tonshu1 the ,indigenous ,hominid said1 bowing his head4 ,he indicated the empty holster at his side3 he was unarmed4 ,i come on taku1 here to your honored precincts1 to speak of things done and of future things4 ,you are ,hartford8 ,hartford thought quickly4 ,his responsibility was to the ,garrison4 ,this stranger was above all else a possible source of contamination1 a carrier of the micro-bugs that could kill every ,axenite on ,kansas4 ,shooting him would rupture the safety-suit he wore4 ,as it was1 his exterior surface was clean2 he could have entered the ,barracks only by marching in from ,retreat with the rest of the regiment1 through the sterilizing ,syphon4 ,i am ,hartford4 ,lee ,hartford4 99 99 99 99 99 ,pia said you are a good man1 the stranger said1 bowing4 ,what is your name8 ,renkei4 ,as you say1 ,i take ,pia's uwa-zutsumi1 this smooth garment4 ,renkei indicated the safety-suit by slicking his hands over it4 ,i must enter here to talk with ,hartford4 ,to enter1 ,i must have garment4 ,pia1 my brother1 is dead4 ,i borrowed his garment4 ,can ,i1 with you1 stop the ugly thing that began last night in ,kansannamura8 ,kuwashiku wa zonzezu2 ,i do not know4 ,i can but try4 ,what a perfect disguise a safety-suit made1 ,hartford thought4 ,besides1 it was the only passport a man needed to enter the ,barracks4 ,he stared at the stranger4 ,he looked no different to men ,hartford had met before1 ,axenites whose grandparents had been born by aseptic ,caesarian section in ,nagoya or ,canton1 two of the great gnotobiotic centers of fifty years ago4 ,renkei was a ,stinker1 a ,kansan1 an ,indigenous ,hominid 7ignominious name672 he was also1 ,hartford felt1 a man4 ,tell me why you made the dangerous journey here1 into the midst of your enemies1 he said4 ,the death of our friend ,pia4 ,the burning of ,kansannamura4 ,the war between my people and you who wear smooth garments1 he said4 ,this is aru-majiki koto4 ,a thing that ought not to be1 ,hartford said1 translating4 ,he was glad for the practice he'd gotten with ,pia1 speaking the native tongue4 ,sit down1 he said4 ,you must explain1 ,renkei4 ,the refresher-room1 a hall filled with lockers and the machinery that automatically tested and refitted the safety-suits each time they returned to the ,barracks1 had a dozen entrances and exits4 ,as ,renkei1 still completely sealed in ,pia's safety-suit1 sat on the bench beside ,hartford1 the doors all closed at once4 ,they hissed as the pneumatic seals were set in their frames4 ,contamination ,alert6 ,someone1 most likely the ,service girl on watch at the ,status ,board1 had discovered that there was one more person in the ,barracks than could be accounted for4 ,a crash-priority head-count had been made4 ,each room and compartment had doubtless been eavesdropped through the built-in ,,tv eyes and microphone ears4 ,one door at the far end of the hall burst open4 ,a squad of safety-suited ,service ,police spilled in4 ,at the point of their wedge was the scarlet uniform of ,colonel ,nef4 ,dardick-pistol in hand1 he ran toward ,renkei4 ,don't shoot6 ,hartford shouted1 springing up4 ,get back1 ,mister1 the colonel yelled4 ,he dropped to one knee and squeezed all twelve rounds into the seated figure to ,hartford's right4 ,service ,police swooped down to pull ,hartford away from the shattered body of ,renkei4 ,the lieutenant's tee-shirt was stained1 however1 by flecks of blood splashed up as the ,s,ps' bullets chewed into the ,kansan4 ,hartford was contaminated4 99 99 99 99 99 ,for the next hour1 ,hartford had no more to say about his disposition than an angry bullock being dipped and scrubbed against an epidemic of cattle ticks4 ,his purification consisted in a sudsing with antiseptic soaps1 this administered by a team of three ,service ,company gnotobioticians who were completely indifferent to his modesty and who seemed determined to peel off the outer surface of his skin4 ,the women1 safety-suited against being themselves contaminated1 shaved off all his hair and ostentatiously packaged-up the shavings to be burned4 ,they administered parenteral and enteric doses of broad-spectrum antibiotics4 ,by the time the gnoto girls were finished1 ,hartford was as bald all over as a six-weeks foetus1 as sore as though he'd been sand-blasted1 slightly feverish as a result of the injections and madder than hell4 ,ignoring his demands to see ,colonel ,nef at once1 the ,service ,company troopers helped him into his safety-suit4 ,hartford would have to live inside the suit for a week's quarantine1 watched carefully to see whether a missed microbe would breed within him in spite of all the measures taken4 ,hartford's company commander refused him permission to speak to the colonel4 ,the lieutenant was to speak to no one concerning ,renkei's invasion of the ,barracks4 ,he would remain safety-suited inside the ,barracks or out2 but would otherwise continue with his regular duties4 ,hartford returned to the refresher-room where the murder had taken place4 ,renkei's macerated body had been removed for burning4 ,the room had been carefully decontaminated1 to the extent of hosing it down with detergent steam and individually re-refreshing each safety-suit in the huge hall's rows of lockers4 ,there was nothing to be done against ,nef's madness1 ,hartford thought4 ,he sat on the bench where ,renkei had sat4 ,the ultimate breakdown in communication is silencing one side of the dialogue1 he thought4 ,that's why killing a man is the ultimate sin2 it removes forever the hope of understanding him4 ,it ends for all time the conversation by which brothers may touch one another's mind4 ,what crap to find in a soldier's thoughts1 ,hartford told himself4 ,he was an ,axenite trooper1 a ,pioneer1 a pistol-packing officer of infantry1 commander of the ,terrible ,third ,platoon4 ,he was an ,axenite1 dedicated by the immaculacy of his birth to the conquest of ,man's frontiers4 ,hartford snapped his plastic-sheathed ,dardick-pistol1 death in a supermarket wrapper1 from his belt and placed it on the shelf of his locker4 ,he'd seen the village of ,kansannamura burned4 ,pia had died across his shoulder4 ,paula lay buried1 too4 ,renkei's life had been splashed out on a stream of bullets4 ,enough of death4 ,hartford picked up a pack of field-ration squeeze-tubes and walked down the hallway toward the ,syphon4 ,his leaving would show on the ,status ,board1 of course1 but that didn't matter any more4 ,he was deserting the regiment4 99 99 99 99 99 ,he walked through the valley of desert that was the ,hot ,gut1 and down into the birth-canal that was the ,wet ,gut1 to emerge in the evening air of ,kansas4 ,the motor sergeant1 stationed outside to guard the vehicles1 saluted4 ,going for a walk1 sir8 he asked4 ,if you'll lend me a jeep1 ,i'll go for a ride1 ,hartford said4 ,i'd like to see how things look1 down in the village4 ,it's against regulations1 but if you'll have the truck back by dark ,i can let it go1 sir4 ,thank you1 ,sergeant4 ,hartford returned the salute and drove off downhill1 toward ,kansannamura4 ,what would happen to ,hartford-the-deserter8 he wondered4 ,at best1 he'd be booted out of the troopers and grounded on ,titan1 or ,luna or one of the ,m',bwene planets1 to serve the rest of his life as a paper-pusher1 the bureaucratic equivalent of an endless ,kitchen ,police4 ,at worst1 he'd be exiled to ,earth4 ,that meant exposure to bacteria1 a gradual contamination till he'd been exposed to the full dirtiness in which earthlings daily lived1 till he'd equipped himself with antibodies and a ,stinker's immune-response4 ,the ,service ,police would be after him soon4 ,once out of sight of the ,barracks1 he turned his jeep off the road1 onto one of the numberless paths used by camelopard riders on their trips between ,stinker villages4 ,he was headed upgrade1 now1 toward the mountains4 ,on either side of the jeep were the fields of sunflowers1 silent in the twilight calm4 ,in a few moments the cool winds from the sea would flow into the land1 stirring the billions of heart-shaped sunflower-leaves into the whisper that filled the evening and early-morning hours of ,kansas4 ,his heart filled with hope and hopelessness1 feeling like a happy suicide1 ,hartford sang to himself as the sunflower heads and leaves tattooed against his windshield4 ,pioneers6 ,o ,pioneers he sang1 the anthem of the ,axenites1 the fellowship he was leaving forever3 ,lo1 the darting bowling orb6 ,lo1 the brother orbs around1 all the clustering suns and planets1 ,all the dazzling days1 all the mystic nights with dreams1 ,pioneers6 ,o pioneers6 ,the crunching of the jeep over the narrow track1 the whipping of the plants against the vehicle and his singing all combined to drown out whatever noise it was the girl might have made4 ,hartford didn't see her till the jeep1 rearing like a startled pony1 climbing the flank of the camelopard the girl rode1 tossed him into a tangle of green stalks and golden flowers4 ,,vii ,the riding camelopard bleated only a moment and was dead1 its great neck broken by the jeep's charge4 ,the girl1 thrown clear1 was up before ,hartford4 ,a scarlet bird circled the scene of the wreck1 the dead beast1 the stalled jeep1 the man and the woman sprawled by the side of the path4 ,miyo6 ,miyo6 ,miyo6 cried the blabrigar3 ,see6 ,see6 ,see6 ,hartford rose and went to the girl1 who was rubbing the shoulder she'd landed on4 ,she stared1 but didn't back away4 ,kinodoku semban1 he said very carefully3 a thousand-myriad pardons4 ,his bitcher1 unfortunately1 was set on full volume2 his words of comfort blatted at the girl with parade-ground force4 ,she put her hands over her ears4 ,the blabrigar above them1 impressed by ,hartford's stentorian voice1 circled repeating ,kinodoku semban over and over1 till the girl called it down to rest quietly on her shoulder4 ,the girl spoke to the bird1 which stared at her lips with his head cocked to one side1 an attentive student4 ,she repeated four times the same message4 ,the bird nodded1 and repeated the phrase to her4 ,yuke6 the girl said4 ,the blabrigar spread its scarlet wings and flew up4 ,it circled twice1 then headed north1 up into the mountains4 ,of the girl's message ,hartford had understood only the native word for camelopard3 giraffu4 ,his ,kansan was inadequate4 ,he could understand it only if it were slowly spoken4 ,hartford tongued his bitcher's controls to a conversational level4 ,kinodoku semban1 he repeated1 bowing4 ,the girl knelt beside the dead camelopard and stroked its head1 over the central1 vestigal horn4 ,she looked up at ,hartford with tears in her eyes4 ,tonshu1 ,hartford said3 ,i bow my head4 ,anata we dare desu ka8 she asked4 ,lee ,hartford1 he replied4 ,the girl spoke slowly4 ,i am named ,take4 ,she knit her hands before her and bowed4 ,forgive my bad actions1 she said4 ,the fault is entirely mine1 ,takeko1 ,hartford replied4 ,he was sorry1 of course1 to have killed the girl's steed and to have subjected her to danger2 he was very glad to have met her4 ,takeko wore what must have been the ,kansan riding costume3 short trousers and a jacket woven of floss from retted sunflower stalk1 dyed a golden brown4 ,most curious1 he thought1 was her perfume2 mild1 flowerlike1 slightly pungent4 ,the smell of this lovely ,stinker belied the trooper epithet4 ,then it hit him4 ,the filters of a safety-suit remove1 together with all the dust of the ambient air1 all its character1 including odor4 ,the clean1 characteristic smells of the ,barracks1 together with the bland spit-and-sweat odors of a long-worn safety-suit1 were all an ,axenite came in contact with4 ,if he were able to smell the outside world1 it could only be because his gnotobiotic security was compromised4 ,hartford inspected his safety-suit1 peering where he could and twisting and feeling the surfaces he couldn't see4 ,takeko laughed4 ,she reached across his shoulder and lifted a flap of torn fabric1 ripped loose when ,hartford had flown from his jeep4 99 99 99 99 99 ,his panic would have been unmanly in a normal human2 but ,hartford all his life had been impressed with the horror of contamination4 ,he ran blindly1 though he knew that his deepened breathing was drawing the germ-laden air of ,kansas deeper into his lungs4 ,he ran through lanes of sunflowers1 flailing his arms1 into the darkness1 away from the alien girl1 away from the fear of going septic4 ,he ran and stumbled and fell and ran again4 ,all his life he'd been warned of the consequences of becoming infected with the bacteria against which he had no defenses4 ,now he was so infected4 ,when ,hartford fell the last time it was for sheer lack of wind4 ,he opened his helmet and tossed it aside4 ,dead already1 he could lose nothing by making himself comfortable for dying4 ,he shivered4 ,the chill of infection8 ,no1 the night was cool4 ,he looked about him in the light of the sky of stars4 ,the fields were below him1 rustling in a million private conversations as the breeze filtered through them4 ,it was a lovely place to die1 here on the crest of a hill4 ,hartford lay back and stared into the curtain of stars that rippled above him4 ,perhaps he wouldn't wake1 he thought4 ,with this thought he slept4 ,the sunlight stung his eyes4 ,he sprang to his feet1 then bent and groaned4 ,sore4 ,he'd slept on naked soil1 packed hard by the hillcrest winds4 ,he stretched his hard-bedded muscles4 ,for a dead man1 he felt good4 ,the alien bacteria and viruses within him were establishing beachheads1 multiplying their platoons to companies1 their companies to battalions4 ,by the time they'd reached division-strength1 he thought1 he'd be well aware of the invasion4 ,meanwhile1 breakfast4 ,he opened a package of field-rations1 squeeze-tube beans4 ,he inserted the nozzle of the tube into his mouth and fed himself a dollop of the stuff4 ,it felt strange to eat directly from the tube1 not having inserted the adjutage into his helmet-opening to be sterilized first4 ,being septic saved a lot of time4 ,he finished the squeeze-tube beans and was thirsty4 ,down at the base of his hill was a little stream4 ,hartford thoughtfully peeled off his safety-suit4 ,dressed only in his shorts1 shirtless1 barefoot and tender1 he made his way down to the water4 ,it was delicious4 ,did bacteria impart that brisk taste8 ,hartford wondered4 ,so far committed to contamination that nothing mattered1 he shed his shorts and dived into the stream4 ,it was chilly1 delightful4 ,he returned to shore and lay on the grass for the sun to toast him dry4 ,he began to relax4444 ,the girl giggled4 99 99 99 99 99 ,hartford snatched up his shorts and pulled them on4 ,it was ,takeko4 ,she was afoot1 wearing the costume he'd last seen her with2 but she had strapped on her back a leather wallet4 ,a blabrigar sat on ,takeko's shoulder4 ,she spoke to it1 repeating her message four times and listening to the bird repeat once4 ,then she shooed the scarlet bird away1 to carry north the message that ,hartford had been found4 ,i laugh4 ,excuse me1 she said4 ,but you funny4 ,takeko patted her head4 ,hartford understood4 ,shaved by the ,decontamination ,squad1 he was bald and eyebrowless1 entirely lacking in body hair4 ,he smiled4 ,hai4 ,your skin is like the hide of a giraffu1 she said4 ,hartford looked down at his freckled arm4 ,true1 the pattern of brown against pink was very like the reticulations of a camelopard4 ,where did you learn to speak ,standard1 ,takeko8 ,pia-san talked to my cousin1 and ,i listened1 she said4 ,kansannamura was my home4 ,pia often visited us4 ,hartford1 who after ,nasty ,nef was the man most responsible for the burning of ,takeko's village1 was silent4 ,when your jeepu-kuruma hit my giraffu1 ,i think you are ,renkei1 the ,kansan girl said4 ,renkei is my cousin4 ,he go to see what can be done4 ,renkei is dead1 ,hartford told her4 ,iie6 ,takeko pressed her hands against her face4 ,you strangers are quick to kill1 to burn1 to sweep away4 ,i did not wish him harmed1 ,hartford said4 ,you pink folk will not be happy until all our people are dead and under the ground1 ,takeko moaned4 ,you will not be pleased until you can march across our graves4 ,that is not so4 ,pia-san said it1 ,takeko said4 ,he said that your ,nef is a master of the ,brotherhood1 which wishes death to all people who do not wear glass heads4 ,if that is true1 ,i am no longer a part of it1 ,takeko-san1 ,hartford said4 ,i have left ,nef and his ,barracks4 ,i am a dead man4 ,you will come with me1 ,takeko said4 ,you will not be dead for many years1 unless ,nef and his ,brotherhood kill you4 ,she looked into the sky1 where a red bird was circling4 ,it hawked down to her shoulder and sat there1 its head tilted to her4 ,takeko1 the girl said to the bird4 ,with this key to unlock its message the blabrigar spilled its rote4 ,hartford recognized a word or two of the bird-o-gram1 but not the full sense of the message4 ,takeko reached into the pocket of her short trousers for a few zebra-striped sunflower-seeds4 ,the blabrigar picked these daintily from her hand1 using its beak like a pair of precise tweezers1 pinching up one seed at a time and cracking it4 ,there will soon come giraffu to take us to a further village1 ,takeko said4 ,you are to speak to our chief men there1 to tell them what happened to ,renkei1 why he was killed in the ,stone ,house4 ,i may not live through this day1 ,hartford said4 ,it is not easy to explain4 ,we wear the 'glass head' to keep out your air4 ,it is deadly1 doku1 to us4 ,do you understand1 ,takeko8 99 99 99 99 99 ,you may be tired1 having slept on the old bones of the hill1 she said4 ,you may be hungry1 having eaten only the squeezings of your metal sausages4 ,but you are not hurt badly1 nor are you old1 ,lee-san4 ,why should you die8 ,you cannot understand1 ,hartford said4 ,he spoke more to himself than to the girl4 ,the medicine here is certainly primitive4 ,you have no concept of the biological nature of disease4 ,tell me1 ,takeko-san1 do you ,kansans know anything of the very1 very small4444 ,microscopic8 ,takeko asked4 ,piacentelli did a splendid job of teaching you the ,standard language1 ,hartford said4 ,he looked up and down ,takeko's trim1 just post-adolescent figure in frank appraisal1 jealously wondering whether ,gabe could have achieved his remarkable pedagogical results by means of the pillow-book method of linguistic instruction so popular with soldiers of occupation in every time and climate4 ,that thought1 he rebuked himself1 was unworthy of ,pia's memory4 ,in any case1 his friend had conducted his researches wearing that guarantee of chastity1 a safety-suit4 ,we'll have to wait an hour or so until the giraffu come1 ,takeko said4 ,she unstrapped the wallet from her back and unpacked it on the grass at the edge of the little stream4 ,the ,kansan girl took out a coil of line1 spun from the stalk of the sunflower1 and a bronze hook4 ,we will feed the gentleman from the ,stone ,house1 she said4 ,hartford watched with amusement as she baited the hook with a bit of the bread from her knapsack1 twirled the line about her head and dropped it into the center of the stream4 ,this place has many fish1 she said4 ,we will not wait long before we eat4 ,it took ,takeko only ten minutes to have three seven-inch fish1 so plump and meaty-looking that not even a xenologist would have wasted time studying them1 lying on the grass4 ,hartford demanded equal time with the fishline1 and discovered to his gratification that the dough he pinched off the chapattis and molded to the hook took the fancy of ,kansas fish as well as ,takeko's offerings4 ,with a sense of at last participating in the affairs of the universe1 he de-capitated and decaudated the six fish they ended with1 and gutted them with a rich delight in the juicy messiness of the task4 ,hartford and ,takeko scissored the fillets in split twigs and roasted them1 like aquatic weenies1 over a fire built from the pithy stalks of dead sunflowers4 ,the firepit1 a saucer of scooped-out dirt1 had buried beneath it half a dozen of the swollen roots of sunflowers1 each wrapped in the cordiform1 sharkskin-surfaced leaf of the parent plant1 to roast beneath the coals4 99 99 99 99 99 ,they seasoned their fish with daikon1 a kind of horseradish2 and their plates were the fresh-baked1 flat1 un-leavened chappattis ,takeko had brought in her pack4 ,the tubers1 eaten from a fresh leaf-plate1 needed only butter4 ,takeko had this1 too1 churned of camelopard-milk cream4 ,buds or flower-heads of the sunflower were eaten with sunflower oil1 like artichokes4 ,your people have a good friend in the sunflower2 ,hartford remarked1 wiping his lips4 ,with the golden flower and the golden giraffu1 with the take-grass and the good soil1 we had a rich life here before you glass-headed men came1 ,takeko said4 ,now we are treated in our own villages like rats to be driven out1 in our fields as gnawing vermin4 ,why is your ,brotherhood so angry with us1 ,lee-san1 who live in only a few places on a wide world8 ,is there no law among the light-skinned people8 ,we have lived here1 on the world you call ,kansas1 for many generations4 ,we were once of ,earth1 as were your grandfathers4 ,all humans were once of ,earth1 ,hartford said4 ,if we are as much human as you1 she said1 why does your ,nef call us ,hominids8 ,is that a name to give a brother8 ,it is better than ,stinker1 ,hartford suggested4 ,hai6 ,i tell you1 ,lee-san why you must re-name us4 ,it is because men do not kill men until they give their brother-enemy a monstrous name4 ,why do you wish to kill us all8 she asked4 ,i'm not a member of the ,brotherhood1 ,hartford said4 ,i'm only a man who was born on ,axenite4 ,that means1 until your beast and my jeep collided1 tearing my safety-suit1 ,i was an animal uncontaminated by microscopic life4 ,these microscopic animals1 ,takeko1 are deadly to an ,axenite4 ,you are not dead1 though1 ,takeko suggested4 ,ne8 ,i've been breathing contaminated air for twelve hours1 ,hartford said4 ,it's true4 ,i cannot understand why ,i have no fever1 no malaise1 no symptoms of pneumonia4 ,takeko giggled4 ,forgive me1 she said4 ,kinodoku semban2 but you seem to be sorry to be alive4 ,she was silent for a moment1 listening4 ,she pointed north4 ,my father will appear with our giraffu soon1 she said4 ,i can hear them4 ,takeko's father rode up a moment later1 an unbent man of seventy4 ,he sat astride his camelopard1 a comic quadruped little better designed as a beast of burden than an ostrich1 with as much dignity as though his steed were an ,arabian stallion4 ,his name1 ,takeko said1 was ,kiwa-san4 ,the old man bowed from his saddle when his daughter introduced ,hartford4 99 99 99 99 99 ,at ,kiwa-san's command the two giraffu he'd brought along on lead-reins spread their legs to bring their down-sloping backs a scant four feet from the ground4 ,the saddles1 with dangling1 boot-like gambadoes in place of ordinary stirrups1 seemed inaccessible to ,hartford4 ,watch me1 ,takeko told him4 ,she took a short run up behind her giraffu and1 with a movement like a leap-frog hurdle1 flipped herself up into the saddle4 ,hartford stepped back1 ran and leaped4 ,he succeeded only in banging his shoes into the right sifle-joint of his mount and in flipping himself to the ground4 ,in the interest of haste1 grace was abandoned4 ,hartford monkey-crawled up a sturdy cane of bamboo growing nearby and1 as ,kiwa-san maneuvered his beast1 stepped over into the saddle4 ,i'd better take my safety-suit and helmet1 he said4 ,if the troopers should find it1 they could follow our trail4 ,hai6 ,takeko said1 agreeing4 ,she leaped from her giraffu1 packed the safety-suit and helmet onto the beast1 and remounted4 ,we will now go to ,yamamura1 she said4 ,old ,kiwa spoke1 and she translated3 ,we must move quickly and with care1 she said4 ,my father heard an hikoki--how do you say8 she asked1 raising and lowering her hand4 ,a veeto-platform1 ,hartford said4 ,i mustn't be seen1 ,takeko4 ,colonel ,nef would use my presence as an excuse to kill any of your people around me4 ,the ride1 though cautious1 was indeed demanding4 ,hartford felt tendons stretch he didn't know he had4 ,muscles were bruised from his instep to his upper back1 and the skin was chafed away from his inner thighs as though he'd been riding an unplaned plank4 ,he understood1 well before the journey to the mountain village was over1 the importance of that lifetime exercise1 best begun by riding young1 known to generations of horsemen as stretching the crutch4 ,he swore to himself that his future transportation1 if he had a future through which to transport himself1 would be by boots or wheeled vehicle4 ,the three of them were following no clear path4 ,kiwa led4 ,hartford noted that their course took them along the contours of streams1 on the borders of fields1 through contrasting background that would make their presence less obvious from the air4 ,they were in a thicket of bamboo when the veeto-platform did appear4 ,the instant they heard its whistle1 ,kiwa spoke a sharp word4 ,he and his daughter slipped from their mounts1 loosed the brow-bands of their camelopards and unlocked their girths1 tossed off the saddles and dangling gambadoes and gave the animals each a sharp slap on the rump that sent them crashing through the bamboo4 ,they helped ,hartford unsaddle and send his beast off in another direction1 and lay down in the direction the late-morning sun dialed the shadows of the bamboo stems4 ,if the veeto-pilot saw the giraffu now1 they were saddleless and innocent4 ,the downdraft of the veeto-platform puffed dust up from the ground around them1 and pressed down the leafy tops of the bamboo like a great hand stroking across the thicket4 ,hartford1 aware of the way his bald head and pink face would stand out1 dusted his hands with the soil and laced his dusty fingers over his scalp4 ,the platform passed almost directly over them1 shooting fragments of dust and bamboo-duff into every particle of clothing1 into ears and eyes and nostrils1 with the whirl-wind of its passage4 ,,viii ,it took them half an hour to recover their giraffu and saddle up again1 but ,hartford did not regret the delay4 ,aboard the grotesque mount again1 he groaned4 ,to mask the misery of his unaccustomed pounding he paid scientific attention to the landscape1 the gait of the camelopards1 the leather of the saddles1 and the posture and person of ,takeko--this last by far the most effective of his analgesic thoughts4 ,they rode on an ancient piedmont1 among the foothills of a worn-down mountain-range4 ,the leather of their saddles and gambadoes was1 by its pattern1 obviously tanned camelopard-hide4 ,hartford was certain that this pattern would by the end of their journey be an indelible part of his own hide4 ,the giraffu1 remarkably swift and easy-moving over the rugged1 heavily grown terrain1 ambled1 moving both legs on the same side together4 ,and ,takeko was lovely4 ,hartford decided to essay his ,kansan4 ,he practiced his question3 ,is ,yamamura far from here8 mentally1 moving his lips1 until he was sure he'd mastered the phrasing4 ,then he addressed ,old ,kiwa4 ,yamamura wa koko kara toi desu ka8 ,kiwa smiled1 and rattled off an answer much too brisk for ,hartford to catch4 ,he pointed ahead and up4 ,he says we must go through the pass1 under the ,great ,buddha1 ,takeko explained4 ,we have only an hour to go4 ,arigato1 ,hartford said1 suppressing a moan4 ,another hour6 ,the pass ,kiwa had spoken of loomed ahead4 ,it was quite narrow1 and walled on either side by the almost perpendicular flanks of mountains1 shoulder to shoulder4 ,kiwa went first1 for the cleft could only be negotiated in single file4 ,takeko followed her father1 and ,hartford took up the rear4 ,in the ravine it was dark4 ,the camelopards1 sensing their mangers up ahead1 paced more quickly4 ,suddenly the canyon was light1 the walls spreading further apart here4 ,far up on ,hartford's right1 seated on a shelf left from some ancient avalanche1 was a gigantic figure cast of a coppery metal1 green now against the granite wall4 ,who is that8 ,hartford called to ,takeko4 ,it is our ,daibutsu1 ,takeko said4 ,it is the ,amida ,buddha1 the ,lord of ,boundless ,light4 ,do you worship him8 ,takeko smiled and shook her head4 ,we worship not any man1 but a ,way1 she said4 ,butsudo--the ,way of the ,buddha4 ,we are nearly to the village now1 ,lee-san4 ,i thank the ,lord ,buddha for that1 ,hartford said1 bowing from his saddle toward the great bronze image4 99 99 99 99 99 ,yamamura nestled in a fold of the high mountains4 ,the fields that supported the village1 its population now doubled by the refugees from ,kansannamura1 were tucked here and there on narrow ledges1 watered by bamboo flumes that stole water from the mountain streams4 ,the crop of greatest importance was the ubiquitous sunflower1 supplier of bread and soap ash1 of cloth and bath oil1 birdseed and writing paper4 ,bamboo grew in clefts and shelves too slight for cultivation4 ,this was the wood for tools1 the water pipe1 the house wattles and1 in its youth1 the salad of the people1 the only wood eaten in its native state4 ,there were also carrots1 beets and tiny plum-trees1 and the horseradish1 daikon4 ,yamamura was a lovely place1 ,hartford decided4 ,it was twenty hours from the moment of his contamination that ,hartford dismounted4 ,he moved into the house ,kiwa invited him to with as much tenderness as though he'd been carefully bastinadoed and flayed4 ,he was1 nonetheless1 free of febrile symptoms4 ,he had breathed ,kansan air1 had eaten its fish and drunk its water2 he'd spoken with a ,kansan native and had lain with his face in ,kansan dust4 ,he was still as healthy as any ,axenite1 never before in the saddle1 would be after a five-hour ride4 ,kiwa's wife and ,takeko's mother was a little woman named ,toyomi-san1 dressed in brightly patterned garments a good deal more formal than her daughter's jacket and shorts4 ,toyomi-san spoke no ,standard1 but she made quite clear to ,hartford his welcome4 ,she led him into a large1 steam-filled room1 where she indicated he was first to wash himself then soak1 then dry and dress in the clean clothing she'd laid out for his use4 ,the soaking water was very hot1 and very welcome4 ,hartford sat in the copper-bottomed tub1 his muscles hard and sore1 until he felt the very marrow of his bones had cooked4 ,he stepped from the tub then and dried gently1 easy on his chafed back and legs4 ,the oil will help1 ,takeko said1 slipping a screen shut behind her4 ,she had bathed and brushed her black hair free of the bamboo-thicket dust1 and wore now a brilliant1 silk kimono of the sort her mother was wearing4 ,hartford held the towel at his waist4 ,excuse me1 he said4 ,takeko giggled4 ,are you unique1 ,lee-san1 that you must hide yourself8 ,lie down on the cot1 and ,i will make you comfortable4 ,wondering greatly at the folkways of ,kansas1 but determined to commit no gaffe that would imperil his relations with this girl1 ,hartford lay face down on the mat-covered cot4 ,takeko removed the tenugi towel with which he'd modestly draped himself and gently stroked sweet-scented sunflower-seed oil into his macerated skin4 ,using the radical border of her hands1 which were remarkably strong1 ,takeko coaxed the muscles to relax with effleurage2 and she further softened the clonic hardness with a kneading motion4 ,this is1 she said1 working her thumb-knuckles up his spinal-column as though telling the beads of his vertebrae1 one of the good things my ancestors brought from earth4 ,yoroshiku soro1 ,hartford grunted agreement4 ,it is good4 99 99 99 99 99 ,half an hour later1 his skin soothed with oil and his muscles suppled by ,takeko's massage1 ,hartford joined the family for supper4 ,the ,kansans used paired sticks for eating4 ,hartford1 who'd not yet been introduced to the skill of using these o-hashi1 and who was too hungry to practice now1 was given a metal spoon with which to eat4 ,when they'd finished their meal1 several elder ,kansans entered ,kiwa-san's house4 ,each bowed to ,hartford1 who1 bald-headed1 his feet socked into unfamiliar geta and wearing mitten-toed stockings1 bowed in return4 ,the newcomers each spoke some ,standard1 but it was obvious that ,takeko was the most fluent of them all4 ,pia-san taught ,renkei2 ,renkei taught me1 the girl explained4 ,i was the second-best speaker4 ,it would be better if ,renkei were here4 ,i regret his death more deeply than ,i can tell you1 ,hartford said4 ,renkei and ,pia my friend are both dead now4 ,this is what ,renkei told me3 aru-majiki koto1 a thing that ought not to be4 ,the ,kansans1 seated on the cushions about the room1 nodded4 ,do you know1 ,lee-san1 the greatest law of life8 ,takeko asked4 ,you said1 beside the stream where we fished1 that men do not kill men1 ,hartford answered4 ,but they do4 ,it is an ideal we have more nearly than the glass-heads1 one of the ,kansan elders said4 ,in the past four days1 ,renkei has died1 and ,pia-san4 ,in the years before you ,latecomers came to build the ,stone ,house and cut roads and practice making holes in paper at a distance1 no man died here at the hand of another4 ,we cannot teach the glass-heads our way when they walk about only with guns1 when they live in the ,stone ,house none of us can enter without dying1 when they look at us with glass bowls over their faces and hate in their hearts1 ,takeko said4 ,the hate is hardly needful1 ,hartford said4 ,but the helmets must remain if ,axenites are to live on ,kansas4 ,do you live8 ,takeko asked quietly4 ,i do1 ,hartford said4 ,it puzzles me4 ,does it not puzzle you that none of us harbors open sores1 or coughs up phlegm1 or dies of fever8 ,kiwa asked1 speaking through his daughter's intermediation4 ,i had not thought of that1 ,hartford admitted4 ,i have never before lived so close to ,stinkers4 ,embarrassed1 he stopped short4 ,i'm sorry1 he said4 ,shitsurei shimashita4 ,you meant us no discourtesy1 ,takeko said4 ,think1 ,lee1 of the word you used4 ,do we indeed stink8 ,no1 ,hartford said4 ,it's strange4 ,i've been told all my life of the rot and fermentation within ordinary mammals1 and of the evil smells elaborated by these processes4 ,but you1 and all of ,kansas1 stink no more than ,axenites do4 ,you have1 as we1 the mulberry odor of saliva1 the wheat smell of thiamin1 the faint musk oil of the hair4 ,even your camelopards smell sweet4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the girl laughed4 ,if you think all ,kansas a place of sweet perfumes1 smell this1 ,lee-san1 she said4 ,she took a covered dish and opened it4 ,this is takuwan1 she said4 ,a smell strong as that of limburger cheese made itself known in the room4 ,it is pickled turnip1 made in the old manner of our island forefathers on ,earth4 ,whew6 ,hartford said4 ,there is the true ,stinker of ,kansas4 ,pia-san learned much from the bad-smelling takuwan1 ,takeko said4 ,his wife knew about the small stink-makers1 these bacteria2 she was a user of microscopes4 ,she looked for them in the air of ,kansas1 and in our soil4 ,pia-san went even further4 ,he took drops of our blood and other things to test4 ,tell our guest1 ,take-chan1 what ,pia found1 ,old ,kiwa told his daughter4 ,hai1 ,otosan4 ,the girl turned to ,hartford4 ,in our bodies there are no mischief-makers of the sort ,earth-people know4 ,there are not even those juices ,pia-san called 'footprints of the bugs4' ,he must have meant you have no bacterial antibodies1 ,hartford said4 ,that explains the whole package1 he went on1 with growing excitement4 ,why ,i'm alive without my safety-suit4 ,what ,piacentelli went outside to find4 ,and1 when he found it1 why he unsuited himself1 knowing this world as pure as ,titan4 ,you're ,axenites1 you ,kansans6 ,you're as germ-free as the troopers4 ,the whole truth is less simple1 said the lean old man who'd been introduced to ,hartford as ,yamata1 the calligrapher4 ,does the rubble of your forest-floors never turn to mould1 then8 ,hartford asked4 ,do the bodies of your buried fathers lie uncorrupted in their graves8 ,of course not1 ,takeko said4 ,if that happened1 we would be buried ourselves in unmouldered leaves4 ,the bodies of our ancestors would be stacked about us1 unchanging1 like logs for the charcoal-burners4 ,our soil would die1 and all men would die with it1 if dead things did not crumble to make new soil4 ,show our friend the hero of our epic1 the calligrapher told her4 ,hai4 ,takeko stood and went to another room1 going through the ritual of kneeling to slide the door screen1 standing1 kneeling1 standing1 with a grace that made the kimono she wore the loveliest of garments4 ,she brought to the small table at the center of the room a heavy object wrapped in a yellow silk tenugui4 ,near this on the table she placed a small lamp1 fueled with sunflower-seed oil4 ,she lighted the lamp and uncovered the instrument she'd brought in4 ,it was the microscope ,piacentelli had taken from the ,barracks on his fatal expedition4 ,takeko dipped a chopstick into a dish and placed it beneath the objective of the microscope4 ,we shall look at a spot of evil-smelling takuwan-juice1 she said4 ,there is light enough4 ,make it fit your eyes1 ,lee-san2 and you will know the secret of ,jodo1 this world you call ,kansas4 ,,ix ,hartford knelt over the microscope in the yoga-posture called for by its being so near the floor and tried to adjust the instrument as he remembered having seen it done4 ,he focused the coarse adjustment of the 'scope till he saw spots darting about the fluid ,takeko had placed on the slide4 ,he nailed the spots down with a gentle hand on the fine adjustment4 ,the juice of the pickled turnip was aswim with tiny bodies that looked like tadpoles4 ,what are they8 he asked1 peering into the micro-world below him4 ,pia-san named them monads1 said the carpenter1 white-bearded ,togo4 ,we all have them in our bodies4 ,you have them now in yours4 ,our soil is alive with them4 ,they chew the chaff of our fields into black loam2 they turn to dust the flesh of our fathers4 ,they cause turnips to become takuwan4 ,hartford rocked back from the microscope to sit again on his heels4 ,you have no disease1 no benign bacterial flora and of course no bacterial antibodies4 ,instead you have this whip-tailed animalcule1 this monad4 ,is this correct8 ,so ,pia-san said1 ,takeko agreed4 ,he said that the monad is a jealous beast4 ,it is a tiger among the pygmies1 he said4 ,no little nuisance-makers can exist on ,kansas2 the monad would eat them in a rage4 ,the ultimate antibiotic1 ,hartford said4 ,a micro-organism that functions as a saprophyte1 a soil-former and a scavenger4 ,besides all this1 it's a universal phagocyte1 policing up the human environment inside and out1 to keep it clean of any other microscopic organisms4 ,the monad fills every niche in the micro-ecology of the planet4 ,this is what ,pia-san and his okusama1 poor dead girl1 discovered1 ,takeko said4 ,renkei entered the ,stone ,house to tell you that we do not stink1 that we are not dangerous4 ,three people have died to tell this--and ,nef still does not know4 ,i think he may know it after all1 ,hartford said4 ,he knows about the monad1 and fears it4 ,this little bug means that every member of the human race can join his damned ,brotherhood4 ,a crew of monads in his gut would make every man on ,stinker ,earth a dignotobiote1 germ-free except for his housekeeping protozoa4 ,until ,pia-san told us1 ,yamata said1 we knew nothing except that we lived longer than our ancestors had4 ,we knew that we did not suffer from the strange tirednesses the books told of1 ills caused by the little animals4 ,we did not know that the smallest natives of this planet had made of us their fortresses4 ,if ,i could only get past ,nasty ,nef to tell this to the ,axenites1 ,hartford said4 ,ron yori shoko1 ,kiwa-san said4 ,takeko translated for her father4 ,he says1 ,proof is stronger than argument4 ,indeed1 ,hartford agreed4 ,but how do ,i prove to the troopers that the monad sweeps ,kansas cleaner than their ,barracks floors8 ,as ,pia-san tried to1 ,takeko said4 ,he removed his glasshead and his silken suit4 ,he breathed our air and ate our food4 ,he wanted to prove that he could live1 but he was killed before he could4 ,now you have made that proof4 ,your brothers of the ,stone ,house must undress of their silken suits and come among us1 ,lee-san4 99 99 99 99 99 ,that they will not1 ,hartford said4 ,they are certain they will die if they inhale a breath of ,kansas air1 chew a bite of ,kansas food1 drink your clear stream water4 ,i was certain ,i would die when my safety-suit was torn3 remember our meeting1 ,takeko-san8 ,it will not be easy to persuade my brothers and sisters in the ,barracks to forget their fears4 ,we are so sure1 we ,axenites1 that contamination will kill us that we'd rather dance with lightning and eat stones than walk this world unprotected and eat its fruits4 ,when ,takeko had respoken these words to her father1 the old man said again3 ,ron yori shoko4 ,proof is greater than argument4 ,proof8 ,hartford asked4 ,i am not proof enough to have a ,regiment of ,axenites shed their safety-suits and declare the ,kansans their brothers4 ,it would take years of lab work before the first of them would walk suitless onto bug-dirt4 ,we'd have to knock down the walls of the ,barracks and burn two thousand-odd safety-suits1 before we'd have the ,axenite troopers here trapped into being guinea-pigs4 ,each trooper carries the ,stone ,house with him when he walks our roads1 the calligrapher remarked4 ,we have but to break through the silken suit he wears to make a trooper know the garment isn't needed here4 ,he'd die of fright1 ,hartford said4 ,i very nearly did4 ,besides1 each column of troopers1 a squad or the ,regiment1 goes out with a ,decontamination ,team4 ,if a man becomes septic through some sort of accident1 he's hustled by a cleanup squad into a ,decontamination ,vehicle for his shower1 shave and shots4 ,i know the process well1 he said1 running his palm over his naked head4 ,ano ne1 ,kiwa said4 ,will this ,decontamination-kuruma house two thousand men8 ,two hundred8 ,twenty8 ,it will hold two or three troopers at once1 ,hartford answered4 ,we have several of them1 though4 ,so 444 ka8 white-bearded ,togo exclaimed4 ,he leaned over to whisper into the ear of ,takeko's father1 who nodded and smiled4 ,old ,kiwa spoke1 and ,takeko interpreted4 ,we must surprise a group of troopers1 he said4 ,we must cause all their silken suits to be torn1 or all their glass heads shattered1 at one time4 ,it is so simple as that4 ,simple in all but the doing1 said ,yamata the calligrapher4 ,he picked up a brush and sketched on the mat before him a line of trooper-silhouettes1 a platoon1 marching single-file4 ,how do we break into all those ,stone ,houses at once8 he asked4 ,hartford's face was pale4 ,we could use grenades1 perhaps1 he said4 ,or bombs4 ,after all1 these troopers we speak of are no more than my family1 my village1 my people4 ,i may of course be expected to cooperate in their destruction4 99 99 99 99 99 ,takeko reached over and took his hand1 then dropped it4 ,ano ne6 ,you do not understand6 ,we can no more injure your brothers than you can1 ,lee-san4 ,we may not harm any living person4 ,forgive us4 ,you misunderstand us4 ,we are bound1 ,lee-sensei1 by ,butsudo3 the ,peaceful ,path of the ,lord ,buddha4 ,she bowed toward him1 her hands clasped together1 her head touching the tatami4 ,it is my fault if ,i have misunderstood1 ,hartford said4 ,the men were staring1 ,takeko's eyes were filled with tears1 the room was silent4 ,i do not know you well4 ,i did not know you do not kill4 ,let me tell you1 then1 ,takeko said1 rising to sit beside him4 ,our people1 who once lived on islands in the greater sea of ,earth1 were folk mighty in battle4 ,their pride was named the ,way of the ,warrior1 which is called ,bushido4 ,their loveliest flower1 the sakura or cherry-blossom1 they made the symbol of the warrior1 so highly did they hold his calling4 ,after their villages had been crushed many times in war1 our ancestors vowed forever to abandon ,bushido1 the warrior's path1 and to place their feet in the path of the ,lord ,buddha1 called ,butsudo4 ,this was many years ago1 before any man had ventured into space1 before our ancestors found this world you call ,kansas4 ,when they came here1 they came in peace4 ,and they named this place ,jodo1 which we still call it4 ,it means the ,pure ,land1 where men are just4 ,and all justice is built on a single law4 ,no man shall take man's life4 ,i spoke of the ,axenite ,brotherhood1 ,hartford said4 ,these men are a group of our leaders--,colonel ,nef is one2 he invited me to join him--who have decided that ,stinker humanity must go4 ,they're dedicated men1 prepared to extinguish all the rest of mankind1 to sterilize ,earth and reseed it as a gnotobiotopic ,paradise4 ,nef has1 ,i fear1 already killed three people to this end4 ,you who cannot kill will face an enemy trained in killing1 he went on4 ,your camelopard-mounted messengers will meet veeto-platforms with machine-guns4 ,your peaceful words will be drowned out by the roar of ,dardick-rifles4 ,how can you hope to live if you will not kill8 ,if the choice were death or killing1 ,lee-san1 we would gladly die1 ,takeko said4 ,we have a saying1 ,muriga toreba dori ga hikkomu4 ,when might takes charge justice withdraws4 ,we will not kill1 and neither will we be defeated4 ,yamata the calligrapher addressed ,hartford4 ,how badly torn must a safety-suit be1 to make necessary the wearer's going into the purification cart8 he asked4 ,only so much as the point of a pin would make would be enough1 ,hartford said4 ,we have to drive pins into several dozens of men's clothing at one time1 ,yamata said4 ,he smiled4 ,so phrased1 the mountain does not seem too tall to be climbed4 ,it would be difficult to puncture the safety-suits without hurting the wearers1 ,hartford said4 ,few armies are so solicitous4 ,butsudo forbids us to kill men1 ,takeko said4 ,it does not deny us the right1 in pointing them to the path of knowledge1 to jab them a bit4 ,she smiled at ,hartford4 99 99 99 99 99 ,how do you propose to do this jabbing8 he asked4 ,i remind you all1 if you need reminding1 that our troopers travel with ,dardick-rifles and machine-guns1 with rocket-mounted jeeps and veeto-platforms from which bombs can be dropped4 ,kiwa spoke4 ,we are like a bear after honey1 he said4 ,we are hungry1 but do not wish to taste the stings of the guardians of the hive4 ,we must surprise them4 ,hartford1 his knees stiff with kneeling1 his backside sore from the camelopard-saddle despite the expert massage1 got up to pace the floor4 ,we need a needle-gun of some sort1 he said4 ,no gun1 insisted white-bearded ,togo4 ,it need have only slight power1 ,hartford said4 ,it would throw its projectile only forcefully enough to penetrate the fabric of a safety-suit4 ,it has been so many generations since we have been soldiers1 we know nothing of weapons1 ,yamata-san said4 ,he wet a fine brush with sumi1 ,chinese ink1 and sketched rapidly4 ,i remember seeing pictures of ,bushi carrying a sort of throwing-sticks with pointed ends in pockets on their backs1 and flinging them like little spears with a kind of one-stringed lute4 ,hartford stared at the calligrapher's drawing1 then exclaimed4 ,of course6 ,a bow and arrow4 ,takeko inspected the sketch4 ,the man who threw the stick is standing1 she said4 ,could we stand against troopers8 ,a man would have to stand exposed to shoot an arrow1 ,hartford admitted4 ,the ,dardick-guns would mow us down before we'd punctured a single safety-suit4 ,he paced up and down the room1 the only trained warrior there1 trying to devise his unkilling weapon4 ,we have wine1 ,lee-san1 ,takeko said4 ,please sit and drink4 ,hartford1 bemused with his problem1 folded his legs onto his cushion and lowered himself gently4 ,takeko's mother appeared with tiny cups of hot wine1 sake4 ,hartford bowed with the others and sipped4 ,the stuff was good1 rather like a dry sherry4 ,takeko bowed to leave the room1 returned1 bowed and commenced playing a tune with the instrument she'd brought in4 ,it was a flute made of bamboo1 with a high-pitched1 pure sound ,hartford found quite pleasant4 ,he frowned1 though1 after a moment4 ,takeko took the pipe from her lips4 ,you do not enjoy my playing8 she asked4 ,what is that made of8 ,hartford demanded4 ,just bamboo1 isn't it8 ,hai1 take1 ,takeko agreed4 ,it is my name4 ,take--bamboo4 ,this is only a shakuha-chi1 for very simple music4 ,hartford smiled and bowed toward ,togo-san1 the white-bearded carpenter4 ,sir1 he said1 if we may have your advice1 ,i believe ,takeko-chan has helped us find our weapon4 ,x ,the meeting broke up to adjourn to ,togo-san's workshop4 ,there was bamboo there in plenty1 and young men eager to help the ex-lieutenant of ,axenites in testing his device4 ,as the week wore on1 young ,kansans appeared from other villages1 called by blabrigars and messengers on camelopard-back to join the army that was to make brothers and sisters of the troopers of ,first ,regiment4 ,the blowgun ,hartford finally established as his field model was some two yards long1 made of bamboo bored through the joints and polished smooth within1 of a caliber somewhat less than the diameter of a man's little finger4 ,though the bamboo-tube was somewhat flexible1 ,togo-san and his apprentices were able to bind a front sight to the muzzle1 allowing somewhat greater accuracy that could be obtained by pointing and hoping4 ,the dart was about the length of a man's hand4 ,its point was a sliver of bamboo1 sharp as steel1 entirely sharp enough to penetrate the tough material of a safety-suit if puffed from the blowgun with enough force4 ,all the craftsmen of the village became arms-makers4 ,they drilled bamboo1 polished the bore with abrasive-coated cord1 fitted on the sights and tested their blowguns against the targets4 ,hundreds of darts were turned out for practice1 and the most perfect were saved for the battlefield itself4 ,the blowgunners began their drill1 shooting from a prone position at targets as far as ten yards off1 as great a range as amateurs could be expected to shoot with accuracy in the short time these had for practice4 ,to fire the blowgun1 the dart was wrapped in a bit of silk of sunflower-stalk-fluff1 so that it would fit tightly into the tube4 ,the puff that sent it on its way had to be sharp and hard4 ,achieving the proper slap of air took more practice even than aiming4 ,hartford became every day a better horseman1 or rather camelopardist4 ,he in fact rejoiced in opportunities to leap-frog into his saddle1 fit his feet and legs into the leather gambadoes1 and go hailing off into the hills to recruit men and material4 ,he carried with him the radio he'd salvaged from his safety-suit1 and could from time to time pick up ,first ,regiment transmissions4 ,the bitcher from his suit was useful in training large numbers of recruits on the blowgun range1 and would be used when the ,kansan guerrillas took the field against the troopers4 ,he was picking up the language rapidly1 now4 ,he had to use ,takeko's services as interpreter less and less4 ,her usefulness declined not a bit1 though1 as the girl became his first lieutenant in charge of details4 ,the band of expert puff-gunners was joined by a company of scouts4 ,these men and women skulked the hills afoot or astride camelopards1 spying out the programs of the ,regiment4 ,having no radio to maintain contact with ,yamamura1 each scout carried a pair of blabrigars1 trained to report to a specific person in its home village when given a selected prompt-word4 ,yamata-san1 the calligrapher1 became a cartographer4 ,he drew in jet-black sumi ink the contours of the mountains1 greened in the stands of bamboo1 drew blue streams and broad brown fields of sunflowers1 till at last the map that filled the largest room in ,yamamura was almost as real as the ,kansan soil it reflected4 ,walking across this map in his tabi-stockinged feet1 ,hartford and the others of ,kansas ,intelligence would move toy troopers1 made of wood like kokeshi-dolls1 into the positions where the blabrigars reported patrols to be4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the plan of battle of the ,kansas forces was yawara-do1 the ,gentle ,way also called judo4 ,they would wait till the enemy made a move they could use1 then they'd trip him up by re-directing his own strength4 ,the move they most wanted the troopers to make was into the ravine that led toward the village of ,yamamura1 the pass under the ,daibutsu1 the huge bronze ,buddha set there by their ancestors4 ,in that ravine1 under the gaze of the ,lord of ,boundless ,light1 the ,kansas forces would either prevail against the invader and make him their brother by darts and sweet reason1 or they would all die in the attempt4 ,the camelopards were stabled1 ready as the steeds of any march-patrolling cavalry troop4 ,the dartsmen1 and those of the women who'd shown skill in handling the blowgun1 were trained and eager4 ,the path through the pass had been memorized in infinite detail by every one of the guerrillas4 ,the squad of sappers responsible for check-mating the troopers had prepared their levers1 their blocks and skids4 ,nothing remained now but to coax the enemy into the battlefield of the ,kansans' choosing4 ,take out what's left of the safety-suit1 ,hartford ordered one of his men4 ,leave it here-- ,he stabbed a toe at the map they both stood on4 ,would it be well for me to leave beside the torn and broken suit signs of a fight8 asked the boy1 ,ito ,jiro1 son of ,old ,ito-san1 the knife-maker4 ,if the troopers are angry1 they will be careless4 ,if only you believed in war1 ,jiro-chan1 you'd make a fine warrior1 ,hartford grinned4 ,do it your way1 and hurry back4 ,jiro placed the bait under the ,regiment's nose early in the day1 and returned to ,yamamura4 ,it was midday when a blabrigar flew in from one of the scouts posted to watch ,first ,regiment's reaction4 ,the bird prated its message into the ear of its receiver4 ,troopers1 a band of fifty-odd1 were scouring the hills to the west1 following the camelopard-hoofprints left by ,jiro4 ,aiding them in their search was the ,regiment's veeto-platform1 skimming1 hovering1 pouncing to pick up clues4 ,they're on the scent1 ,hartford said4 ,he turned again to ,ito ,jiro1 fleetest of the camelopard-riders4 ,jiro-chan1 lead them a chase that will bring them to the ravine no sooner than the ,hour of the ,dog4 ,be very cautious of the flying-thing2 it can surprise you4 ,hai1 ,jiro said1 bowing4 ,the ,hour of the ,dog they will call upon you near the ,daibutsu4 ,ito-san the knife-maker watched his son run toward the stables1 the boy as excited as though he were going to a festival rather than to face alone half a company of full-armed ,axenites4 ,the blabrigars that would ride out with ,jiro were trained to report to the father4 ,it would be a long afternoon for the old man1 ,hartford thought4 ,there was much to do before the scarlet bird came winging in from ,jiro's shoulder with the message that the trap was sprung4 ,at the ,hour of the ,monkey1 four hours before the troopers were to be in ambush1 the first blabrigar flew in to report to ,ito-san that the boy's mount was winded1 the enemy was drawing nearer the ravine1 and that ,jiro was approaching the point of rendezvous where he would find a fresh camelopard4 ,hartford ordered out two youths to join ,jiro there in his harassment of the foot-soldiers from ,regiment4 ,it is time we take up our positions1 he told his band of dartsmen4 ,let us go in hope4 99 99 99 99 99 ,kiwa-san1 ,takeko's father1 stepped forward to pronounce a benediction upon the little company4 ,the ,enlightened ,one1 speaking at ,rajagriha1 spake1 saying3 ',remember one thing1 ,o beloved disciples1 that hatred cannot be silenced by lies but by truth4' ,the irregulars1 heads bowed1 replied1 ,namu ,amida ,butsu1 ,glory to the ,amida ,buddha6 ,hartford1 though his training as an ,axenite trooper had left him as untouched by religions as by microbes1 joined the prayer1 feeling that a degree of celestial interest in their stratagem would not be unwelcome4 ,the camelopardists vaulted into their saddles1 adjusted their legs in the boot-like gambadoes1 and slapped the reins to head their giraffu toward the ravine where the endgame would be played4 ,hartford rode at the head of the band1 ,takeko beside him4 ,the others were dispersed at wide interval1 a precaution against the veeto-platform's swooping over the horizon to surprise them en route4 ,as they left ,yamamura1 the women and children of the village were leaving from the other side1 together with the men too old to go out with the guerrillas4 ,yamamura was being abandoned until the outcome of battle made itself known4 ,the canyon that led up the mountain's groin had once been the deep-cut bed of a stream4 ,collapse of over-beetling rock had formed a vault over the stream1 which was consequently underground4 ,soil had filtered into the rocks1 and bamboo had taken root4 ,in result the lower ravine was a green enfilade hardly wider than a hallway1 the walls on either side rising squarely from its floor4 ,well within the pass1 set into the left-hand wall as one rode down from ,yamamura1 was a niche very like the tokonoma or honored alcove of a ,kansan home4 ,in this alcove1 some fifty feet from the bottom of the pass1 was set the great bronze image of ,buddha1 the ,daibutsu of ,kansas4 ,further down1 below the ,daibutsu-niche1 the canyon became irregular4 ,along either side1 some ten feet from the floor1 were ledges marking the fracture planes along which ancient avalanches had calved4 ,it was from these shelves that the ,kansans hoped to ambush the men from ,first ,regiment4 ,the narrowness of the ravine1 and the overhang of willow trees--these growing in clefts of rock1 fingering their roots down to the subterranean stream--were enough1 ,hartford prayed1 to prevent the veeto-platform's pilot from spotting the ,kansans lying in wait with their blowguns4 ,hartford disposed his troops on the shelves1 checking to see that each man had a good field of fire and adequate cover4 ,he glanced at the sun1 the ,kansan timepiece4 ,it was between six and eight in the evening1 he judged1 the ,hour of the ,clock4 ,he pressed his ear to the radio-receiver4 ,short-range1 the safety-suit radio picked up only occasional orders from ,axenite officers and non-coms4 ,twice ,hartford caught the name1 ,lieutenant ,felix4 ,he smiled1 feeling mixed emotions4 ,felix had been his old ,platoon ,sergeant1 and they would face each other in an hour or so as enemies4 ,very likely the fifty troopers chasing ,ito ,juro and his fellows toward the canyon included men of the ,terrible ,third ,platoon1 his old command4 ,hartford checked to see his bitcher worked and waited the arrival of the message-blabrigars with fresh news4 ,,xi ,the first bird arrived a few moments before the radio began coming in clear4 ,sakura1 ,hartford said1 this being the prompt-word to which the blabrigar was trained to reply4 ,fifty men1 sir2 fifty men1 sir2 on the way1 sir2 on the way1 sir1 the bird chanted into ,hartford's ear4 ,he let the bird rest on his shoulder2 it would have to fly back to the scout who'd sent it soon1 to tell him to join the rest of them at the ambush-point4 ,the sun was low in the sky4 ,h-hour was near4 ,the signals began coming closer-together4 ,saw one ,stinker off your left flank1 ,miller4444 ,left flank-guard reporting1 sir4 ,that ,gook took off due east4 ,blabrigar on his shoulder4444 ,lieutenant ,felix here4 ,anything on the right flank8444 ,nothing1 sir4444 ,keep moving1 ,lieutenant4 ,this last voice was the colonel's4 ,hartford frowned4 ,if ,nasty ,nef had come out in person1 the game would have to be played fast and dirty4 ,hartford set his bitcher low4 ,abunai yo6 he said to his guerrillas1 sprawled out all along the ledge like figurines on a mantlepiece4 ,be cautious4 ,shoot your dart and get behind something4 ,from now on1 be silent4 ,the enemy is near4 ,takeko spoke3 ,you mean1 ,lee-chan1 that our brothers draw near4 ,the other ,kansans smiled4 ,some saluted1 a gesture they'd observed among the ,axenites they'd been spying upon for the past few days4 ,the first of the scouts came galloping up the gullet of the canyon4 ,without a sound he signaled his watching comrades1 invisible above him4 ,he made a circle with his hand1 pointing up4 ,that meant the ,regiment's veeto-platform was scouting ahead of the approaching ,axenites4 ,the first man slapped his giraffu to hasten it up the pass1 past the ,daibutsu4 ,two other scouts1 the foxes urging on the hounds1 came shouting into the canyon4 ,neither of them was ,ito ,jiro4 ,as his name signified1 ,jiro was the youngest son of ,ito-san1 the knife-maker4 ,he was the darling of the family4 ,where was he8 ,hartford worried4 ,the radio1 no longer masked by the rocks1 was filled with information4 ,hartford heard the veeto-pilot reporting3 ,they're headed up the gulch past the big idol1 sir1 he said4 ,there's a village up there4 ,that's where they're probably headed4 ,what do you want me to do1 sir8 ,the platform hovered over the canyon1 unwilling to work its way into the jagged1 bamboo-and-pine-prickly fissure4 ,keep in touch1 ,sky-,eye1 ,nef ordered4 ,we're coming right up4 ,felix here1 sir1 the lieutenant reported4 ,we've got one of the ,gooks prisoner4 ,he's just a kid4 ,doesn't seem to know a thing4 ,hold him till we get someone who talks ,stinker1 ,nef said4 ,they got ,jiro1 ,hartford thought4 ,damn4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the first of the troopers1 an officer in the blue safety-suit1 spearheaded the column4 ,nothing in sight yet1 ,felix's voice reported4 ,the officer signaled ,come on with the sweep of his arm1 and the first squad of ,axenites1 dispersed as skirmishers1 formed themselves into a file to enter the canyon4 ,the veeto-platform above kept the foliage pressed down with its jet of air1 stirring dust that both improved concealment and threatened to trigger a sneeze from one of the ambushers4 ,hartford peered cautiously over the edge of the shelf4 ,he'd set his forces far enough back in the canyon that the entire ,axenite column would be encased4 ,sir1 this is ,felix1 the radio said4 ,do you agree1 sir1 that ,i should place one squad in reserve till the rest get through the gully8 ,peel off one squad and stay with it1 ,felix1 ,nef said4 ,felix's voice again3 ,sir1 it was our ,lieutenant ,hartford that the ,gooks got4 ,i'd like to go in early4 ,very well1 ,felix4 ,miller1 hold your squad where it is4 ,disperse them well1 and wait my order before bringing them into the ditch4 ,confirm4 ,done and done1 sir1 ,miller snapped4 ,the first two dozen troopers were in the canyon now1 half the ,axenite force4 ,colonel ,nef had shown the good sense to don an ordinary blue safety-suit2 his scarlet command-suit would have made him a splendid target4 ,another squad entered1 their ,dardick-rifles held at the ready4 ,this would have to be quick1 ,hartford thought1 or he'd lose his entire corps at their first volley4 ,he raised his hand1 a signal visible only to ,takeko4 ,she cupped her hands around her mouth and whistled the call of the nightingale1 ,ho-o-kekyo 444 kekyo6 ,before the echoed notes had died1 the darts had found their targets4 ,the radio was a clutter of undisciplined ,damn's1 cries of ,i've been hit6 ,one trooper1 quicker than the rest1 caught sight of a ,kansan4 ,he raised his rifle and purred out a stream of ,dardick-pellets4 ,yoritomo1 apprentice to the paper-maker1 tumbled over the lip of the ledge1 his blowpipe falling with him like a jack-straw4 ,there was a babble on the radio4 ,nef overrode all other circuits to command3 ,at ease6 ,rake the ledges with sustained fire4 ,the canyon was blasted with a confetti of metal and spalled rock as the troopers hosed the shelves with bullets4 ,the angle made aiming impossible4 ,but by luck and the intensity of the barrage another man1 the carpenter's son1 had toppled to his death4 ,sky-,eye6 ,get your butt down here6 ,nef bellowed4 ,decontamination ,team6 ,bring the vehicle to the mouth of the canyon4 ,we've got men septic4 ,he tongued-on his bitcher and bellowed at the troopers4 ,on the double1 through the ditch4 ,yuke6 ,hartford shouted to the men far up the wall1 in the niche that held the ,daibutsu4 ,go6 99 99 99 99 99 ,the sappers at the back of the giant bronze statue bent to their levers4 ,the tons of metal scooted slowly forward1 hit the fat-smeared edge of the shelf4 ,as quietly as a man rocking forward in prayer1 the ,daibutsu dropped head-down into the ravine4 ,it struck the bottom with the sound of a great gong1 and rocked1 unshattered1 plugging the throat of the canyon1 standing as a dam4 ,the hands of the ,enlightened ,one were held in the positions of ,protection and of ,giving2 ,his face bore still a quiet smile4 ,about the head of the image a fountain of water burst1 squeezed up from the stream below4 ,namu ,amida ,butsu6 ,takeko said1 cuddled against ,hartford1 staring down4 ,keep down1 he said4 ,he lifted his suit-radio and flicked on the transmission-switch4 ,this is ,lee ,hartford1 late of the ,first ,regiment1 he announced4 ,the safety-suits of most of you have been breached4 ,there is not room for more than three of you in the ,decontamination ,vehicle4 ,you are not septic4 ,i repeat3 you have not been contaminated4 ,kansas is as safe for you as the ,barracks1 or ,titan1 or the ,m',bwene planets1 or in the cells at ,luna4 ,you do not need your safety-suits on ,kansas4 ,find that man and gun the traitor down1 ,nef's voice demanded from the speaker on his suit4 ,i am coming out unarmed1 ,hartford radioed4 ,fire the moment you see him1 ,nef said4 ,one of the officers had his ,dardick-pistol drawn1 his eyes traversing the canyon walls4 ,no1 sir6 ,felix's voice snapped from his bitcher4 ,you can't shoot the man till he's had a chance to speak4 ,go to the rear at once1 ,private ,felix1 ,nef bellowed4 ,felix pointed his handgun toward ,nef4 ,no1 sir1 he replied4 ,hartford was my ,c4,o41 and an honest man4 ,i'll hear him before ,i see him killed4 ,or by my life1 sir1 ,i'll kill you after him4 ,this is treason1 ,nef said4 ,drop your pistol1 sir1 or ,i'll have to try to shoot it from your hand4 ,excuse me1 sir1 ,felix said4 ,nef's gun dropped4 ,you all hear me8 ,felix bitched4 ,hear me out there1 ,miller8 ,there was a chorus of ,roger6 ,felix went on3 ,i'm going to unclamp my helmet1 troopers4 ,i'm going to take off my safety-suit4 ,that's how much ,i trust ,lee ,hartford1 troopers4 ,the man who tries to stop ,hartford better begin with me4 ,felix opened his helmet1 removed it1 and placed it on the rocks beside him4 ,he went up to drink from the fountain that sparkled about the head of the ,daibutsu1 cupping his hands4 ,it's good water1 men1 he said4 ,come on down1 ,hartford1 he shouted through the clear night air4 99 99 99 99 99 ,lee ,hartford twisted over the edge of the shelf1 held himself by his finger-tips1 and dropped4 ,he stood before his old comrades in arms dressed as a country ,kansan4 ,his head bore only a stubble of hair1 and a scarlet blabrigar came down to settle familiarly on his shoulder4 ,i caused your suits to be breached for good reason1 he said1 speaking into the bitcher he'd recovered from his safety-suit4 ,if any of you has a sore backside because of the darts my men sent at you1 please accept my apologies4 ,two more ,axenites removed their helmets1 and stood grinning uncertainly at ,hartford4 ,i have lived on ,kansas for two weeks1 living like a native4 ,i've breathed ,kansan air1 eaten their wonderful food and even kissed one of their girls4 ,there was a murmur of laughter4 ,i'm as healthy as ever ,i was inside the ,barracks1 ,hartford said4 ,and ,i'm a good deal happier4 ,there was louder laughter among the ,axenites1 and more helmets opened4 ,hartford turned to look behind him4 ,takeko was hanging by her finger-tips off the shelf1 trying to work up the courage to drop4 ,he went over to stand below her4 ,fall to me1 darling1 he said4 ,fall into my arms4 ,i hear1 shujin1 and obey1 ,takeko squeaked1 and dropped4 ,when ,hartford released ,takeko and turned to face the troopers1 every helmet but ,nef's was opened4 ,half a dozen of the men had already stripped to their ,class ,b's4 ,they had their faces tilted into the wind that was sweeping up the gullet of the canyon1 smelling for the first time in their lives the scents of open nature1 the spice of green life in the air4 ,they were seeing the ,kansas sky2 a mosaic of stars1 unfiltered by helmets4 ,they were breathing air not humid with their own perspiration4 ,holding ,takeko's hand in his1 ,hartford walked up to ,felix4 ,you saved the day1 old buddy1 he said4 ,there was the cough of a tapped-off ,dardick-round4 ,felix fell4 ,colonel ,nef1 his pistol held at the hip1 tilted it toward ,hartford4 ,he looked startled for a moment1 then dropped the pistol4 ,in his wrist were three blowgun-darts4 ,clustered across his chest were half a dozen more4 ,hartford waved at the ,kansans on the ledge4 ,arigato6 he shouted1 and told them to come down4 ,two men had died in the engagement3 ,yoritomo the paper-maker and ,sannosuke the carpenter's son4 ,felix's thigh-bone had been broken by ,nef's shot2 and ,colonel ,nef's right wrist would require attention4 ,a medical officer had been sent for from the ,barracks to set ,felix's leg4 ,the dead men were carried on litters up to the shelves and around the fallen ,daibutsu to the village4 ,hartford splinted his friend's broken leg4 ,what now1 ,hartford8 ,felix asked4 ,i suggest that you all become guests in ,yamamura4 ,done and done1 ,felix said4 ,takeko came up to lay a bunch of flowers on his chest4 ,they smell sweet1 she said4 ,courage such as yours smells sweet in the nostrils of heaven4 ,thank you1 ,ma'am1 ,felix said4 ,he turned his head to follow the girl as she took a second handful of flowers to place it beside the fountain that jetted about the head-standing ,daibutsu4 ,i can see where this will be a popular planet to do duty on1 ,lieutenant1 he said4 ,what you discovered here will pretty well wipe out the ,brotherhood4 ,you're right1 ,hartford said4 ,the ,brotherhood is doomed4 ,they watched as ,takeko knelt before the inverted image4 ,namu ,amida ,butsu1 she said4 ,all men are the same in the sight of ,amida1 the ,lord of ,boundless ,light4 ,maybe ,i'm wrong1 ,lieutenant1 ,felix said4 ,maybe the ,brotherhood just got started4