Explore "Sense of Obligation" by Harry Harrison on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
One of the technicians was running and screaming. The magter knocked him down and beat him into silence. Seeing this the other two men returned to work with shaking hands. Even if all life on the surface of the planet were dead, this would have no effect on the magter. They would go ahead as planned, without emotion or imagination enough to alter their set course. As they worked the technicians' attitude changed from shocked numbness to anger. Right and wrong were forgotten. They had been killed -- the invisible death of radiation must already be penetrating into the caves -- but they also had the chance for vengeance. Swiftly they brought their work to completion, with a speed and precision they had concealed before.
"What are those offworlders doing? " Ulv asked.