Malhomme turned to Rynason and Mara, his face relaxing at last.  The hard lines around his mouth softened into a rueful smile as he put his arm around Rynason’s shoulder.  “We can all take shelter in the buildings here for the night.  You could use some rest, Lee Rynason—­you look like hell.  And maybe I can put a temporary splint on your arm, woman.”

They found a nearby building where the roof had long ago fallen in, but the walls were still standing.  While Malhomme ministered to Mara he did not stop talking for a moment; Rynason couldn’t tell whether he was trying to keep the girl’s mind off the pain or whether he was simply unwinding his emotions.

“You know, I’ve preached at these men for so many years I’ve got callouses in my throat.  And one of these days maybe they’ll know what I’m talking about, so that I won’t have to shout.”  He shrugged.  “Well, it would be a dull world, where I didn’t have a good excuse to shout.  Sometimes you might ask your alien friends up there, Lee ... what did they get out of choosing peace?”

“They didn’t choose it,” said Rynason.

Malhomme grimaced.  “I wonder if anybody, anywhere, ever will.  Maybe the Outsiders did, but they’re not around to tell us about it.  It’s an intriguing question to think about, if you don’t have anything to drink ... what do you do, when there’s nothing more to fight against, or even for?”

He straightened up; the splint on Mara’s arm was set now.  He settled her back in a drift of sand as comfortably as possible.

“I’ve got another question,” Rynason said.  “What were you doing among those men who came at me on the steps earlier?”

Malhomme’s face broke into a wide grin.  “That was a suicidal rush on you, Lee.  A damned stupid tactic ... a rush like that is only as strong as the weakest coward in it.  All it takes is one man to break and run, and everybody else will run too.  So it was easy for me to break it up.”

Rynason couldn’t help chuckling at that; and once he had started, the tension that had gripped him for the past several hours found release in a full, stomach-shaking laugh.

“Rene Malhomme,” he gasped, “that’s the kind of leadership this planet needs!”

Mara smiled up from where she lay.  “You know,” she said, “now that Manning is dead they’ll have to find someone else to be governor....”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Malhomme.

Here’s a quick checklist of recent releases of

  ACE SCIENCE-FICTION BOOKS

  35c

    D-547 THE SUPER BARBARIANS by John Brunner

    D-550 NO WORLD OF THEIR OWN by Poul Anderson

    D-553 THE HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND by Wm. H. Hodgson

    D-555 THE TRIAL OF TERRA by Jack Williamson

  40c

    F-141 THE DARKNESS BEFORE TOMORROW by Robert.  M. Williams
          and THE LADDER IN THE SKY by Keith Woodcott