ow?"

"Skip class that day in history?"

"Must've."

"Vague, myself. Right after the insurrection. Seems there were two
powers, Russia and America. The people of the world got fed up, gave a
pox to both their houses, boiled over, formed a world government.
Somehow the scientists got in their licks in the turmoil, pointed out
that scientists who have to confine their discoveries to what suits the
ideology of the non-scientists can only find limited solutions."

"Quite a deal."

"Could only happen in a world turmoil, when everything was fluid.
Anyhow, they got away with it, for a certain group, Extrapolators, had
to be free to extrapolate without fear of reprisal."

"Boy, something. Imagine. Take any dame you want. Nobody can squawk.
Take any money, riches you want. Nobody can stop it."

"Funny thing. Nothing like that happens. Idea seems to be that when you
don't have to fight against restrictions, they aren't important any
more. At least not to an E."

"Guess that's why one of 'em pointed out that police are the major cause
of crime."

"Whether he was right or wrong, that's what sent Gunderson into a tail
spin. I wouldn't be surprised but what he's a little hipped on that
subject. He'll get 'em one of these days. Even an E can make a mistake,
and when one of 'em does, he'll be there."

"I dunno, the public has a lot of hero-worship for the E. Pretty tough
for any politician to buck that."

"The public! You know as well as I do--they think what we tell 'em to
think, you and me."

"You think that's why he's got a man out here on this Eden thing?
Looking for a mistake?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. He just never passes up the chance that maybe this
time he can grab something."

"Between Gunderson and the E's, I'll take the E's."

"Your boss feel the same way?"

"Far as I know."

"But if your boss changed his mind, you would have an agonizing
reappraisal."

"Well, sure. A guy's got to eat."

6

The west wall of the E club room began to glow, lose its appearance of
solidity. Cal signaled his orderly to lift away his table. Now, where
the west wall had been, another room seemed to join this one, an office.
A large man in a brown suit made an entrance through the door of the
office and sat down back of the desk. His face was drawn with weariness.

"I am Bill Hayes," he said. "Sector administration chief of the Eden
area. I am acting moderator of this review. We follow the usual rules of
procedure.