The Explorer smiled. It was a gentle dig at his Arcturian homeland, which was smaller than most planets. He said, “Not quite.”

The Merchant followed along the line of his thoughts. “And the inhabitants are large in proportion to their world?” He sounded as though the news struck him less favorably now.

“Nearly ten times our height.”

“Are you sure they are friendly?”

“That is hard to say. Friendship between alien intelligences is an imponderable. They are not dangerous, I think. We’ve come across other groups that could not maintain equilibrium after the atomic war stage and you know the results. Introversion. Retreat. Gradual decadence and increasing gentleness.”

“Even if they are such monsters?”

“The principle remains.”