looked much too young to be the mother of two children, who looked as fresh and desirable as she had the day Stone had married her. She would perish with them. His sons; his home. He shook his head bitterly. The tragedy could be averted if he could reach the Governor's Secretary, if he could convince the Secretary that there must be a stay of execution. The Government had to allow Galth of Rastol the chance to kill himself in accordance with his people's customs.

He glanced up at the street-sign. This was the street. It was a quiet, residential block, lacking the fluorescent streetlamps of the business district. He saw the house, and headed for it.

As he started up the long walk toward the house, two figures stepped out of the shadows.

"Put up your hands, Mr. Stone," said the taller of the two. "The Secretary wants to see you."

Stone frowned puzzledly, but made no resistance. He didn't care to argue with a naked gun, and they were taking him where he was heading anyway. He raised his hands and folded them behind his head, and let them march him up the concrete pathway.

The Secretary was a heavy-set, heavy-jowled man with a smile on his lips and a calculating look in his eyes. He sat comfortably in an overinflated pneumochair, smoking a cigar.

"Well, Mr. Stone," he said, eyeing Kendall coldly, "may I ask you why you broke away from the spaceport? That is a serious offense, you know."

Stone moistened dry lips. "I know, Mr. Secretary, but it was an emergency. I lost my ID booklet, and I had to get to see you before it was too late."

The Secretary ignored that. "What is your business, Mr. Stone?" he asked, narrowing his eyes penetratingly. "Why have you come from Rastol III?"

"I came to pick up a hundred pounds of Martian valdone," Stone explained. "We use it on Rastol III to make antivirotic drugs in combination with extracts from Apler's Weed. The weed only grows on two planets, Rastol III and Vescalor IX."

The Secretary grinned complacently, but did not say anything. Stone began to sweat.

"While I was on Mars, I heard that the Rastolian native, Galth, was to be executed, so I came here to ask the Governor to stay the execution." He went on to explain in detail what would happen if Galth were to be executed.

When he 

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