Read the following passage and questions, then choose the right answer from options, the answer should be one of A, B, C, D.

<passage>:
breathless messenger as Kinton followed him from the machine. [109] ground car and is gone." "He did?" Kinton had an empty feeling in the pit of his put to him often during the ten years since his rocket had hurtled through the meteorite belt and down to the surface of Tepokt, leaving him the only survivor. Barred off as they were from venturing into space, the highly civilized Tepoktans constantly "Why did he say he was traveling that way?" asked Kinton, thinking to himself of the spaceship! Was the man crazy? "He did not say," answered the third before fleeing with one of their spears." " they'd be creepin' around this Tepoktan was slightly under years. The Tepoktans had been now— He did not worry about his of misproportion. He should be used to it after ten years, he thought, but even unable to offer the Tepoktans any "We must get into the air immediately," he told Klaft. "Perhaps we may see him before to the lean young pilot. A moment later, Kinton saw the ground outside drop away. Only upon turning around did had materialized in time to follow Klaft inside. These, he knew, were loaded with an explosive worthy of respect on any planet he had heard To protect him, he wondered. Or to get Birken? The pilot headed the craft Klaft excitedly skipped down to lead the way up the aisle, but "He has been seen on the road passing the dam," Klaft reported soberly after having been called to the pilot's compartment. "He stopped to demand fuel from some maintenance workers, but they had been warned and fled." "Couldn't they have seized some he thought he had forgotten. Still ... he sensed the disappointment at his announcement. Later, aboard the jet helicopter that was basically like those Kinton remembered using "But George! It was enough behind the pilot. In other words, he thought, he was responsible for Birken, who to look out the window as he recalled the shadow that underlay want to risk hurting his feelings, but that was only part of it. of Tepokt. The time They were leaving it up to him to handle what they considered He wondered what to do. He had no actual faith in the idea his private affair. that Birken was delirious, or acting and die. Whose wishes would then prevail? Maybe he was wrong, he above head height, to prevent the "I bow to your wisdom, handler's catching the blast. about the ship!" Kinton muttered, all right. Probably scared the colonial authorities will trail him right down through the Dome of gnawing the knuckle of He caught himself and looked around to see if he had been overheard. his left thumb. "He's on the run, running figure. Kinton realized Tepokt were underdeveloped. In a certain lack of drive resulted from the inability to break out into interplanetary space. Kinton had been inexplicably lucky to have reached the surface even in a battered hulk. The shell of meteorites was at least a hundred miles thick and constantly shifting. "We do not know if they have always been meteorites," the Tepoktans had told Kinton, "or that had never flown. "Never mind landing at the the pilot. The helicopter swept in a descending curve across the whether part of them come from "Go down!" Kinton ordered. The pilot landed about a hundred yards from the spaceship. By the time his passengers had alighted, however, Birken had drawn level with them, about "Birken!" shouted Kinton. "Where do you think you're going?" Seeing that no one ran after him, Birken slowed his pace, but [112] He watched them over his shoulder. "Sorry, Kinton," he shouted with no noticeable tone of regret. "I figure I better travel on for my health." "It's not so damn healthy up there!" called Kinton. "I told them jokingly that he felt no urge to risk a physical encounter with his own personal Eye. The helicopter started to descend, and Kinton remembered you how there's no clear path—" from his home. The brief twilight of Tepokt was passing by the time he set foot on the landing field, and he paused to look up. his anxiety at the way Birken persisted in drifting before him. The call for help that had risen to his lips died there. "Not Milky Way. Klaft, who had descended first, leaving the pilot to bring up the rear, noticed Kinton's pause. their party," he muttered. destroy the ship! Or if some miracle gets him through, that's worse! He's nothing to turn loose on a civilized satellites had been destroyed or only one. Half a dozen officials hastened up to escort the party to the few facts about the new arrival. The crash had been several hundred miles away, but someone had thought of the hospital in the motionless Tepoktans he had deduced after hearing it used by the dam workers. He whirled to run toward the wreck, alive or dead, had been discovered—had accordingly been flown here. helicopter. Hardly had he taken two steps, however, when he saw one occupant of the with a hissing cry. By the time Kinton's aging muscles obeyed his impulse to sidestep, the spear had already hurtled past. It had missed him by an error of over six feet. [113] He felt his face flushing with sudden anger. Birken was running as best he could toward the such remonstrances. He estimated spaceship, and had covered nearly sleep, his mouth was thin and hard. "Thrown across the controls after his belt broke loose?" Kinton guessed. to his surprise that the effort of George," said the plump Tepoktan seizing the weapon had him panting. Or was it the fright at having decided that Birken had not come close enough for that, and wondered if he was afraid of his own impending action. It wasn't fair, he complained to himself. The poor slob only a spear thrown at him? He Kinton, without exactly seeing each, was aware of the general lines of flight diverging of Birken. One struck the ground beside the man just as he set one foot on the bottom rung of the ladder, and skittered away past one fin of the ship before exploding. tried to sit up, and subsided with a groan. Why, he looked scared when he saw me Two others burst against the The spaceman was blown back from the ladder. He balanced on his heels for a moment with outstretched "Yeah. Jet-hoppers spreadin' all over the other five. None of the land-hungry poops figured a way to set down here, though, or various organs for a few months!" He climbed into the helicopter and slumped into his seat. Presently, he was aware of Klaft edging "How did you happen to do it? Run out of fuel?" The other eyed him for a few into the seat across the aisle. seconds before dropping his gaze. Kinton was struck with He resolved to be wary of the visitor. wondering at the fact that they were not shaking. He felt dejected, "Why did you not let him go, Didn't want nobody else hurt if "What? Why ... why ... he would have destroyed the ship the man should be resting. He [108] had lost track of the moments I didn't make it. Say, how bad you worked so hard to build. There is no safe path through he had wasted in talk while the flew back and forth from his own town nearly every day. He felt that he should not neglect only way he could repay the Tepoktans upon themselves." "No, I suppose not," sighed tell me little about himself. It may be that he was caught in Tepokt's gravity while fleeing from justice." To himself, he wished he had not told Birken about the spaceship. He didn't think the man Yet he continued to spend as much time as he could visiting the other man. Then, as his helicopter landed at the city airport

<question>:
Why did George remain on Tepokt instead of returning home?

<options>:
A He like the way he was treated with respect on Tepokt
B He was a wanted criminal on his home planet
C He wanted to help the Tepoktans achieve interstellar travel
D He was afraid of crashing in the meteorite field while leaving

<answer>:

D