"We could not restrain you without force. And if we must rely upon your honor, we'd be equally reliant whether you be here or on Terra."
"Here," said Guy dryly, "I'd be away from temptation. If I were tempted to tell, there'd be no one to tell it to."
"We must comply with an ancient rule," explained Terokar. "It says specifically that no man without Ertinian blood may remain on Ertene. It was made to keep the race pure when we were still about our parent sun and has never been revoked. We wouldn't revoke it for you alone."
"But permitting me to go free would be sheer madness."
"Not quite. We are mutually indebted to one another, Guy. There is the matter of knowledge. You gave freely of yours, we gave you ours. We have gained some points that were missing in our science, you have a number of points that will make you rich, famous, and remembered. Use them as your own, only do it logically in order that they seem to be discoveries of your own. You admit the worth of them?"
"Oh, but yes," said Guy eagerly. "Wonderful—"
"Then there is no debt for knowledge?"
"If any, I am in your debt."
"We'll call it even," said Baranon, dryly.
"Then there is the matter of life," said Terokar. "You know how you were found?"