Monument (SS)

and came to a full salute.
He left the ship, carefully closing the air lock behind him. Dusk had settled quickly there, deep in the forest, but the natives were waiting, still in attitudes of reverence.
"I suppose you've looked those things over," Dillinger said.
Fornri seemed startled. "No . . ."
"I see. Well, I found out—as much as there is to find out about him. If he has any family surviving, I'll see that they know what happened to him."
"Thank you," Fornri said.
"Were there no others who came and lived among you?"
"He was the only one."
Dillinger nodded. "O'Brien was a truly great man. I wonder if you fully realize that. I suppose in time you'll have O'Brien villages and O'Brien streets and O'Brien buildings, and all that sort of thing, but he deserves a really important monument. Perhaps—a planet can be named after a man, you know. You should have named your planet O'Brien."
"O'Brien?" Fornri said. He looked blankly at the others, turned back to Dillinger. "O'Brien? Who is O'Brien?"
Analog Science Fact & Fiction, June 1961
Ed. by John W. Campbell, Jr.
Street & Smith Publications, Inc.
($0.50, 180pp, digest, magazine)
1962 Hugo Nomination - Best Short Fiction