* * *

He looked at his wristchron. It was getting late, and Kenman Road might
be anywhere. He turned into a busy thoroughfare, conscious that he was
attracting attention. The streets here were crowded with little people
who barely reached his chest; they were all about the same height, and
most of them looked alike. A few had had radical surgical alterations,
and every one of these was different. One had a unicorn-like horn;
another, an extra eye which cunningly resembled his real ones. The
Earthers were looking at him furtively, as they would at a tiger or an
elephant strolling down a main street.

"Where are you going, Spacer?" said a voice from the middle of the
street.

Rolf's first impulse was to snarl out a curse and keep moving, but he
realized that the question was a good one and one whose answer he was
trying to find out for himself. He turned.

Another policeman stood on the edge of the walkway. "Are you lost?" The
policeman was short and delicate-looking.

Rolf produced his card.

The policeman studied it. "What business do you have with Quinton?"

"Just tell me how to get there," Rolf said. "I'm in a hurry."

The policeman backed up a step. "All right, take it easy." He pointed to
a kiosk. "Take the subcar here. There's a stop at Kenman Road. You can
find your way from there."

"I'd rather walk it," Rolf said. He did not want to have to stand the
strain of riding in a subcar with a bunch of curious staring Earthers.

"Fine with me," the policeman said. "It's about two hundred blocks to
the north. Got a good pair of legs?"

"Never mind," Rolf said. "I'll take the subcar."

* * * * *

Kenman Road was a quiet little street in an expensive-looking end of
Yawk. 12406 was a towering building which completely overshadowed
everything else on the street. As Rolf entered the door, a perfumed
little Earther with a flashing diamond where his left eye should have
been and a skin stained bright purple appeared from nowhere.

"We've been waiting for you. Come on; Kal will be delighted that you're
here."

The elevator zoomed up so quickly that Rolf thought for a moment that he
was back in space. But it stopped suddenly at the 62nd floor, and, as
the door swung open, the sounds of wild revelry drifted down the hall.
Rolf had a brief moment of doubt when he pictured Laney and Kanaday at
this very moment, playing cards in their mouldering hovel while he
walked