CHAPTER 2
You can measure the immaturity of a people by the thickness of their law books.
—Anthropos, Sanity and Society
Dev and Dunnis stood in the rain, unable to move for several seconds. Their eyes were fixed on the pitiful remains of what had only seconds before been their fellow crewman. The air felt charged with electricity, and a faint, disagreeable odor was wafting to their nostrils despite the downpour—the unpleasant aroma of burned flesh.
Slowly, they became aware of movement around them. Gathering in the darkness of the Daschamese night was a crowd of the natives, emerging from their huts at last to view the aftermath of the incredible scene. Too shy, they came only to the outermost edges of the circle of light made by Dev’s lantern; all she could make out were the outlines
