IIStark waited, until they should tire of their own silence.
Finally one demanded, "Of what country are you?"
He answered, "I am called N'Chaka, the Man-Without-a-Tribe."
It was the name they had given him, the half-human aboriginals who had raised him in the blaze and thunder and bitter frosts of Mercury.
"A stranger," said the leader, and smiled. He pointed at the dead Camar and asked, "Did you slay him?"
"He was my friend," said Stark, "I was bringing him home to die."
Two riders dismounted to inspect the body. One called up to the leader, "He was from Kushat, if I know the breed, Thord! And he has not been robbed." He proceeded to take care of that detail himself.
"A stranger," repeated the leader, Thord. "Bound for Kushat, with a man of Kushat. Well. I think you will come with
