an type that could
live more comfortably under Martian conditions. The project was backed
by the government."

He stopped. It was the Chief who added:

"Then Marscorp stepped in."

The expression on Dark's face was blank.

"You don't know what Marscorp is, do you?" asked the Chief curiously.

"The name's familiar," replied Dark. "It's a spaceline, isn't it?"

"If your amnesia is genuine, you might very well react in such a
fashion," said the Chief reflectively. "Marscorp is the Mars
Corporation, and it's the only spaceline that serves Mars now. It's a
giant combine on Earth which has a virtual monopoly on the spacelines
and exports and imports between Earth and all the colonized planets.

"Marscorp is against any development of human beings who can live under
natural extraterrestrial conditions, because that would end the
colonies' dependence on Marscorp for supplies. As it is, the colonies
literally can't live without Marscorp. Marscorp controls enough senators
and delegates in the World Congress to block other important projects if
the Earth government refuses to co-operate with it, so the
government--that is to say, Marscorp--put a ban on the experiments by
Hennessey and other scientists here."

"I remember the government ban on the projects, but I wasn't aware that
Marscorp had anything to do with it," said Dark. "Goat Hennessey was one
of a group of us who retired to the desert to continue work despite the
government ban."

"Goat sold out," said the Chief. "Perhaps your memory doesn't include
that important point, but Fancher remembers it well. It was a little
before my time. Goat sold out, and betrayed the others to the
government in return for assistance in carrying out more limited
experiments. Some of the group escaped and formed the nucleus of the
rebel movement which now is centered here at the Childress Barber
College. We call ourselves the Order of the Phoenix."

The Chief allowed himself the luxury of a very faint smile.

"Marscorp and the government call us the Desert Rats," he said. "Very
appropriate. They consider us in the same category as rats."

Dark had been standing, casually at ease, before the Chief's desk, with
the air of a man who does not tire from standing. Now he did something
Fancher would not have dared: without the Chief's invitation, Dark sat
down in a comfortable chair, leaned back and stretched out his legs in
relaxation.

"It's a little hard for me to realize there's a