“You are still of the same mind?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Then does it not occur to you as strange that I should be so content to abandon this planet if indeed it does hold the remnants of greatness?”
“No.”
“Why not?” Skhiva stiffened slightly.
“Captain, I think you are a little afraid because you suspect what I suspect—that there was no natural disaster. They did it themselves, to themselves.”
“We have no proof of it,” said Skhiva uneasily.
“No, Captain.” Pander paused there without desire to add more.
“If this is their- own sad handiwork,” Skhiva commented at length, “what are our chances of finding friends among people so much to be feared?”
“Poor,” admitted Pander. “But that—being the product of cold thought—means little to me. I am animated by warm hopes.”