"Did you also know that he's been buying men here to stand with him in
case someone else is appointed?" He glanced at Mara. "I go among the men
every day, talking, and I hear a lot. Manning will end up in control
here, one way or another, unless he's stopped."
"Buying men is nothing new," Rynason said. "In any case, is there a
better man on the planet?"
Malhomme shook his head. "I don't know; sometimes I give up on the human
race. Manning at least has a little culture in him--but he's more
vicious than he seems, nevertheless. If he gets control here...."
"It will be no worse than any of the other planets out here," Rynason
concluded for him.
"Except for one thing, perhaps--the Hirlaji. I don't have much against
men killing each other ... that's their own business. But unless we get
somebody better than Manning governing here, the Hirlaji will be wiped
out. The men here are already talking ... they're afraid of them."
"Why? The Hirlaji are harmless."
"Because of their size, and because we don't know anything about them.
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