CHAPTER I“I called you three in,” the Oligarch said, “because I have some very important news.”
Herb—he would later be assigned that name—was one of the three. He hated the Oligarch, and he had no doubt that the Oligarch knew it.
“There are,” the Oligarch said, “people on the planet. Unfortunately.”
Dull rage and frustration and despair and helplessness bubbled up in Herb. His face remained calm.
“We’ll have to keep them from interfering with us,” the Oligarch said.
Herb wanted to cry: Find another! Not this one! Not the only one we’ve ever found with people on it!
But he said nothing. His anguished thoughts whirled like a dust storm, handling and rejecting ideas like bits of paper. The remote and inaccessible Scientists were beyond accounting. Perhaps only this planet would serve. P
