ones and intestines. We know what a
thin borderline separates normal people from--from you.

"Don't you understand? They're perfect, perhaps too much so. They
can't tolerate even small blemishes. They rush to us with things like
hangnails, pimples, simple dandruff. Health--or rather the appearance
of it--has become a fetish. They may think they're sympathetic to you,
but what they actually feel is something else."

"What are you driving at?" whispered Docchi.

"Just this: if it were up to the Medicouncil, you would be on your way
to the Centauri group. But it isn't. The decision always had to be
referred back to the Solar System as a whole. And the Medicouncil
can't go counter to the mass of public opinion."

Docchi turned away in loathing.

"Don't believe me," said Cameron. "You're not too far from Earth. Pick
up the reaction to your broadcast."

Worriedly, Jordan looked at Docchi.

"We may as well find out," said Docchi. "It's settled now, one way or
the other."

They searched band after band. The reaction was always the same.
Obscure private citizen or prominent one, man or woman, they all told
how sorry they were for the accidentals, but--

"Turn it off," said Docchi at last.

"Now what?" Jordan asked numbly.

"You have no choice," said the doctor.

"No choice," repeated Docchi dully. "No choice but to give up. We
misjudged who our allies were."

"We knew you had," said Cameron. "It seemed better to let you go on
thinking that way while you were on the asteroid. It gave you
something to hope for. It made you feel you weren't alone. The trouble
was that you got farther than we thought you would ever be able to."

"So we did," Docchi said. His lethargy seemed to lift a little. "And
there's no reason to stop now. Jordan, pick up the ships behind us.
Tell them we've got Cameron on board. A hostage. Play him up as a
hero. Basically, he's not with those who are against us."

Anti came into the control compartment. Cheerfulness faded from her
face. "What's the matter?" she asked.

"Jordan will explain to you. I've got to think."

Docchi closed his eyes. The ship lurched slightly, though the
vibration from the rockets did not change. There was no reason for
alarm; the flight of a ship was never completely steady. Docchi paid
no attention.

At last he opened his eyes. "If we were properly fueled and
provisioned," he said without much hope, "I would be in favor of the
four of us heading for Alpha or Pr