"Are you in this with him?" asked Mantley sharply. "If I were you, Kane, I'd look to my own past and see if there are any loose ends. We may decide that you know about this, too."
"You're being overharsh to a man that should have the entire world at his feet."
"Maynard, will you swear upon your honor that no such planet exists?" demanded Mantley.
Maynard remained silent, convicting himself.
"Ha! Then it was not drunkenness entirely. Look, Maynard. Your high position as sector marshal will not help you in the face of this. The entire situation will be overlooked if you do your duty and lead us to Ertene now."
Maynard made a soundless "No".
"You are a valuable man," insisted Mantley. "Copies though the originals may have been, your work at adaptation is nothing short of genius. To take an alien concept and reduce it to practice is no small feat, Guy. Do not fling your future into the drink. Lead us to Ertene, and we will consider your job well done."
"They saved my life," said Guy. "They gave me knowledge. I strived and worked enthusiastically in an effort to convince Ertene that Terra and Sol would ever be friendly, and offered her a place near Sol. I assured Ertene of our undying alliance and protection. They preferred eternal loneliness to joining a militant system such as ours. Since they felt that entering Sol's system would bring about the death of Ertinian integrity, they offered me life in exchange for silence."
"A fine bargain," sneered Mantley.
"I swore to keep their secret. I shall."