Sammy just nodded.

"Damn! If he had been successful, Triland would have an expedition partway there right now." The investigator was silent for a moment, seeming to contemplate the lost opportunity. He looked back at his records. "And you know, he almost succeeded. A world like ours would have to bankrupt itself to go interstellar. But sixty years ago, a single Qeng Ho starship visited Triland. Course, they didn't want to break their schedule, but some of Ducanh's supporters were hoping they'd help out. Ducanh wouldn't have anything to do with the idea, wouldn't even talk to the Qeng Ho. After that, Bidwel Ducanh pretty much lost his credibility....He faded from sight."

All this was in Triland's Forestry Department records. Sammy said, "Yes. We're interested in where this individual is now." There had been no interstellar vessel in Triland's solar system for sixty years.He is here!

"Ah, so you figure he may have some extra information, something that would be useful even after what's happened the last three years?"

Sammy resisted an impulse to violence. A little more patience now, what more could it cost after the centuries of waiting? "Yes," he said, benignly judicious, "it would be good to cover all the angles, don't you think?"

"Right. You've come to the right place. I know city things that the Forestry people never bother to track. I really want to help." He was watching some kind of scanning analysis, so this was not completely wasted time. "These alien radio messages are going to change our world, and I want my children to—"

The investigator frowned. "Huh! You just missed this Bidwel character, Fleet Captain. See, he's been dead for ten years."

Sammy didn't say anything, but his mild manner must have slipped; the little man flinched when he looked up at him. "I-I'm sorry, sir. Perhaps he left some effects, a will."