Part 2

"Gloryanna III is the original home planet of marocca. They hated the stuff, of course, but they liked the profit. Then, when a plague almost wiped out the dingleburys, they introduced khorram furs as a cash crop. It wasn't as lucrative, but it was so much more pleasant that they outlawed marocca. Took them almost fifty years to stamp it out completely. Meanwhile, some clever native shipped a load of the stuff to Mypore II. He took his time, did it without any trouble and made his fortune. And got out again quickly.

"The Gloryannans were going to hold my _Delta Crucis_ as security to pay for the cost of stamping out marocca all over again--those spores sprout fast--and for a time I was worried.

"Of course, when I showed them our contract--that you alone were responsible for everything once I landed the plants safely on Gloryanna III, they let me go.

"They'll send you the bill. They don't figure it will take them more than a few months to complete the job."

Captain Hannah stopped talking and stood up, painfully and a little unsteadily.

I'm afraid I didn't even notice when he blacked my other eye. I was too busy reaching for the rhial.

END