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“You were, I believe, the first ever to kill a farn beast?” he said.

“I.... No, sir. There must have been previous hunters, sir.”

Extrone narrowed his eyes. “I see by your eyes that you are envious—that is the word, isn’t it?—of my tent.”

Ri looked away from his face.

“Perhaps I’m envious of your reputation as a hunter. You see, I have never killed a farn beast. In fact, I haven’t seen a farn beast.”

Ri glanced nervously around the tent, his sharp eyes avoiding Extrone’s glittering ones. “Few people have seen them, sir.”

“Oh?” Extrone questioned mildly. “I wouldn’t say that. I understand that the aliens hunt them quite extensively ... on some of their planets.”

“I meant in our system, sir.”

“Of course you did,” Extrone said, lazily tracing the crease of his sleeve with his forefinger. “I imagine these are the only farn beasts in our system.”

Ri waited uneasily, not answering.

“Yes,” Extrone said, “I imagine they are. It would have been a shame if you had killed the last one. Don’t you think so?”