Galactic Patrol by E.E. Smith

A powerful fleet had been sent to rescue those of the _Brittania's_ crew who might have managed to stay out of the clutches of the pirates. The wildly enthusiastic celebration inside Prime Base was over. Outside the force walls of the reservation, however, it was just beginning. Thorndyke, VanBuskirk, and the Velantians were in the thick of it. No one on Earth, except a few planetographers, had ever heard of Velantia, and those highly intelligent reptilian beings knew even less of Tellus. Nevertheless, simply because they had aided the patrolmen, the visitors were practically given the keys to the planet, and they were enjoying the experience tremendously.

"We want Kinnison! We want Kinnison! " the festive crowd, led by Universal Telenews men, had been yelling; and finally the Lensman came out. But after one pose before a lens and a few words into a microphone, he pleaded, "There's my call, now -- urgent! " and fled back inside Reservation. Then the milling tide of celebrants rolled back toward the city, taking with it every patrolman who could get leave.