According To His Abilities

'Of course not. There was poison in that bowl, that was obvious. So I killed the slave just like I told him I would.'

The top came off and inside, gagged and trussed like a pig, was Zarevski. They cut away his bindings and rubbed the circulation back into his legs so that he could walk. DeWitt supported him with one arm and Briggs waved them towards the door.

'Go on first and I'll come behind witt the box. I don't think there will be any trouble, but if there is any you know that I can take care of you — slaves!' He laughed uproariously, all by himself.

They stumbled slowly through the empty streets and Zarevski smiled back over his shoulder. A number of his teeth were missing and there were clotted cuts on his face, but he was alive.

"Thanks, Briggs. I heard the whole fling and couldn't say a word. You handled it perfectly. I made the mistake of trying to be friendly with these damn snakes, and you saw what happened to me. Someone I had talked to died, and they said I had killed him with the evil eye, then grabbed. I wish you had been with me.'

'That's okay, Zarevski, people make mistakes.* His tone of voice left no doubt that he was one who never did. 'Only you better not talk any more until we're away from here. They saw you talking to me so vou know what I have to do.'

'Yes, of course.* Zarevski turned back, closing his eyes, wincing even before the blow landed. Briggs raised his foot and kicked him in the back, knocking him sprawling. He made no attempt to help when DeWitt once more dragged him to his feet.

Once they were near the ship Briggs walked up close to them.

'Not much more, then well all be out of this.'

'Are you in Spatial Survey?' Zarevski asked. T can't say I remember your name.*

'No, this is just a temporary job.'

'You should make it permanent! The way you handled those natives — we can use men like you. Wouldn't you want to do that?*

'Yes,' Briggs said, he was sweating in spite of the cold. 'It's not a bad idea. I could help you people.'

'I know you could. And there is plenty of room for advancement.*

'Shut up, Zarevski! That's an order,' DeWitt broke in.

Zarevski dismissed him with a look and turned back to Briggs who was kneading his hands together with excitement.

'I could use an assistant like you on expeditions. I have enough men in the labs for writing up reports, but no one for field work. . '

'Be quiet, Zarevski!'

'… no one who really knows his way around like you do.'

'And do I!' Briggs shouted and threw his head back, tearing his fingers down his face, scratching the soft flesh. 'I can do it. I can do it better than anyone you know, better than anyone in the whole world. You're all against me but I can do it better. . '

'Briggs!' DeWitt shouted, turning and grabbing the man by both arms. 'Listen to me Briggsl Sunset-nowl Do you hear me. . sunset-now!'

With a tremulous sigh the big man closed his eyes and let his arms drop. DeWitt tried to hold him up but his weight was too great and he slumped to the ground. Zarevski looked on, dumbfounded.

'Come on, help me. You did this to him so you had better help carry him into the ship before B'deska and the rest of the locals see what has happened and come out after our skins.'

'I don't understand,' Zarevski said, helping to carry the dead weight to the ship, looking worriedly over his shoulder as the outer lock ground open. 'What's the matter with Mm?'

'Nothing now, before we left I planted the posthypnotic command with a key word just in case of trouble. He's asleep, that's all. Now we'll take him back to the hospital and try and put him back together. Everything considered he held up very well, and I would have got him back to the ship if you hadn't started your damn recruiting speech. Glory of Spatial Survey my foot!'

'What are you talking about?' Zarevski snapped.

Behind them the heavy door closed with a satisfying sound and DeWitt whirled to face the man they had rescued, anger finally burning through his control.

'Just who do you think Briggs is — a professional hero out of some historical novel that Spatial went out and hired? He is a sick man, right out of the hospital, and I'm his doctor — which is the only reason I'm here. One of the staff had to go with him, and I was the youngest so I volunteered.'

'What do you mean hospital?' Zarevsk' asked with a last attempt at bluster. 'The man's not sick. . '

'Mentally sick — and on the way to being cured until this happened. I hate to think how long it will set him back. Not as sick as some, he has almost a classic case of paranoia simplex, which is why we could use him. His delusions of persecution relate to his actual perception of his surroundings. So he was right at home down there. If you had read all the reports instead of blundering in you would have found out that those aliens have a society where a condition very much resembling paranoia is the norm. They feel that everyone is against them — and they are right. Everyone is. No sane person could have been counted on to have the right reactions in such a society— we needed someone who suffered from the same sickness. The only thing I'm even remotely happy about in this whole mess is that it wasn't my decision to send Briggs down there. They decided that upstairs and I did the dirty work. I and Briggs.'

Zarevski looked down at the slack face of the man on the floor, breathing hard even though he was unconscious.

'I'm sorry… I didn't. .'

'You couldn't know.' Dr DeWitt was rigid with anger as he felt the fast, erratic pulse of his patient. 'But there is one thing you did know. You weren't supposed to land on that planet — but you did anyway.'

'That's none of your business.'

'Yes it is, just for now. Just for these few minutes before we go back to the ship and before I go back to my ward and they forget about me, with maybe a small commendation on my record, and you go back to being the great Zarevski and they put your name in the headlines. I helped pull you out of there which gives me the right to tell you one thing. You're a grandstander Zarevski and I hate your guts. I… oh what the hell…'

He turned away and Zarevski opened his mouth to say something, then changed his mind.

It was a short trip back to the waiting mother ship, and they didn't talk to each other because there was really nothing to say.