The Survey Service was supposed to observe alien worlds on the verge of civilization, without in any way interfering. But the expedition to Bilbeis IV, over 1,000 years ago, had broken the rule, with results that no one could have predicted. The Survey Service was still around, more bureaucratic than ever, and when they returned to Bilbeis IV and saw what the previous expedition had done, they knew that they could not allow the facts to get out. And unless one man could stop them, more than incriminating documents might be shredded-an entire inhabited world was at risk!