“No, Niaga, nothing like that. I find your world very—very beautiful.” The word very inadequately expressed what he really felt. “But I’m not free to make the choice.”
She drew in her breath sharply. “Your people, then, hold you enslaved?”
He laughed—uneasily. “I’m going home to manage Hamilton Lord; it’s the largest trading company in the Federation. We have exclusive franchises to develop almost five hundred planets. It’s my duty, Niaga; my responsibility; I can’t shirk it.”
“Why not—if you wanted to?”
“Because I’m Martin Lord; because I’ve been trained—No, it’s something I can’t explain. You’ll just have to take my word for it. Now tell me: how should I go about negotiating a treaty with your people?”
“You spoke of the government, Martin Lord; I suppose you used the word in a symbolic sense?”
“Your chieftain; your tribal leader—whatever name you have for them.”
Her big, dark eyes widened in surprise. “Then you meant actual men? It’s a rather unusual use of the word, isn’t it? For us, government is a synonym for law.”
“Of course, but you must have leaders to interpret it and enforce it.”