The Secretary was a heavy-set, heavy-jowled man with a smile on his lips and a calculating look in his eyes. He sat comfortably in an overinflated pneumochair, smoking a cigar.
"Well, Mr. Stone," he said, eyeing Kendall coldly, "may I ask you why you broke away from the spaceport? That is a serious offense, you know."
Stone moistened dry lips. "I know, Mr. Secretary, but it was an emergency. I lost my ID booklet, and I had to get to see you before it was too late."
The Secretary ignored that. "What is your business, Mr. Stone?" he asked, narrowing his eyes penetratingly. "Why have you come from Rastol III?"
"I came to pick up a hundred pounds of Martian valdone," Stone explained. "We use it on Rastol III to make antivirotic drugs in combination with extracts from Apler's Weed. The weed only grows on two planets, Rastol III and Vescalor IX."
The Secretary grinned complacently, but did not say anything. Stone began to sweat.
"While I was on Mars, I heard that the Rastolian native, Galth, was to be executed, so I came here to ask the Governor to stay the execution." He went on to explain in detail what would happen if Galth were to be executed.
When he finished, he stared at the Secretary, searching the man's face for some sign of interest. "Would you phone the Governor and tell him what I've just told you?" he asked hoarsely.
"I'm afraid we can't do anything like that on the word of an unidentified man, Mr. Stone," the Secretary said calmly. "As soon as your identification comes through—"
"But that will be too late! Can't you see that this may mean the death of thousands of innocent people?"