Colonel John Devall governs the Terran outpost on Markin, where the natives read omens in blood-red sunsets. When a young Earthman commits a murder and a double blasphemy, the old high priest demands an ecclesiastical trial, and Devall must decide whether to sacrifice the boy for Earth’s position among the stars.
A compact moral dilemma from Silverberg’s prolific early years. Download the free EPUB.