I started out to explore the spot where our ship landed. A couple of miles away were some rolling hills, covered with trees. Since we had seen a number of small animals, I figured there would be game there, probably water too.
Clive came with me, not to explore, but because he couldn't order me around at long distance and there's nothing worse to a politician than not being able to do any politicking. I was stuck with him.
We hit a jackpot. Not only was there a clear stream running through a valley in the hills, but there was an abundance of small game. And there was a ruined city.
Sometime in the past, this planet had been inhabited. Then something happened. Epidemic, war, famine, drought or something we didn't know about had wiped out the intelligent life to a man. This had happened so long ago that even the bones had turned to dust. But the shell of his cities remained.
"Too bad," said Clive, "this is going to make your task more difficult."
"Why?"
"You'll have the added duties of being the police force, the sanitary commission and the city council," he said.
"But there's no need for those things," I protested. "There's nobody to govern."
"You will also have to be the populace."
I could see that I was going to have the splittingest personality in the galaxy.