The Axenite warrior is a germ-free—axenic, gnotobiotic—human being. He is superior in most ways to ordinary men. But he cannot live in a normal, contaminated world. To him a drop of rain may reek with pestilence, the scent of evening may be a lethal gas. On the planet Kansannamura, the Axenites lived in a sanitized barracks and fraternization with Indigenous Hominids was an offense punishable by General Court-Martial.

Piancelli left the security of the barracks on a vague mission. When he stayed too long in Stinkerville, a recon team found him, dead, stripped of his sanitation suit and in the chaos of a frantic search, tear gas and gunshots. The obvious conclusion: blame the Indigenous Hominids.

But Hartford needed more answers to his friends death. What will he discover about this strange planet. What will he learn about himself?

This Science Fiction Classic was written by Allen Kim Lang and first appeared in the Worlds of If Science Fiction magazine in July 1962.