ne. The rest remained impassive.

Malcolm paused, then continued.

"Be prepared to be here for a while. You know your
commitment period. Whatever happens to you here
depends on your attitude and your compliance with
orders, and on decisions by those conducting your
rehabilitation."

Pacing the line he stopped before each prisoner
and stared at him or her from under bushy black
eyebrows. Relaxed against the wall, or tense
and erect, they returned his gaze. Inspection
completed, he nodded at the guard astride the
passageway and turned back to address the line.

"You are inmates in the Social Rehabilitation
Center of Guardian Station 15, about five million
kay outbound from the Asteroid Belt's rim, or what
was the Belt before the space-miners got through
with it. This station was the mining operations
center for this sector.

"Our internal security is good. We've had no
attempts at breakout in a dozen years. In the
attempt that was made before then, the inmate
didn't clear the sector. When it was over, I might
add, he was a bit the worse for the experience."

Malcolm paused to let his words sink in.

"This prison," he continued, "is where the rehab
system confines its high-risk and special treatment
prisoners. Inmates include persons convicted of
piracy of spacecraft, smuggling controlled minerals
and other substances, theft of government and
important private properties, hijacking, espionage,
armed robbery, gun-running to insurgents and
terrorists in the Outer Region, and murder. That's
the short list."

The prisoner's faces remained expressionless.

"Bear in mind..." the Lieutenant reached the end of
the line and reversed direction, "that although the
Guardian Stations are along the border between the
Inner and Outer Regions, we're far from isolated.
For example, this station's present orbital
coordinates accommodate Inner Region traffic to the
Planet Pluto Special Zone through both normal space
and spunnel express.

"Escorted Inner Region convoys regularly pass
through this sector on their way to the Slingshot
construction site. They include high-mass-loaded
container ships, construction rigs under tow
and objects too large for the spunnel are routed
through this sector when we're lined up.

"Sometimes they stop to pick up and discharge
passengers and cargo, or technicians to service our
specialized posts along the way and at destination.
We may have a half-dozen or so spacecraft alongside
at