Haut Rodric's eyebrows lifted. "And your leader – the man I am to meet?"

"You mean Dr. Pirenne? Yes! He is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees – and a personal representative of the Emperor." "Doctor? No other title? A scholar? And he rates above the civil authority?"

"Why, certainly," replied Hardin, amiably. "We're all scholars more or less. After all, we're not so much a world as a scientific foundation – under the direct control of the Emperor."There was a faint emphasis upon the last phrase that seemed to disconcert the sub-prefect.