ettle their differences personally, as
violently as they wished, without hurting themselves or anyone else.
On most civilized worlds, the results of properly-monitored duels were
accepted as legally binding.

The tensions of civilized life could be escaped--albeit
temporarily--in the dueling machine. This was a powerful tool, much
too powerful to allow it to be used indiscriminately. Therefore Leoh
safeguarded his invention by forming a private company--Psychonics,
Inc.--and securing an exclusive license from the Terran Commonwealth
to manufacture, sell, install and maintain the machines. His customers
were government health and legal agencies; his responsibilities were:
legally, to the Commonwealth; morally, to all mankind; and finally, to
his own restless conscience.

The dueling machines succeeded. They worked as well, and often better,
than Leoh had anticipated. But he knew that they were only a stopgap,
only a temporarily shoring of a constantly-eroding dam. What was
needed, really needed, was some method of exploding the status quo,
some means of convincing people to reach out for those unoccupied,
unexplored stars that filled the galaxy, some way of convincing men
that they should leave the comforts of civilization for the excitement
of colonization.

Leoh had been searching for that method when the news of Dulaq's duel
against Odal reached him.

Now he was speeding across parsecs of space, praying to himself that
the dueling machine had not failed.

The two-week flight ended. The starship took up a parking orbit around
the capital planet of Acquataine Cluster. The passengers transhipped
to the surface.

Dr. Leoh was met at the landing disk by an official delegation, headed
by Massan, the acting prime minister. They exchanged formal greetings
there at the base of the ship, while the other passengers hurried by.

As Leoh and Massan, surrounded by the other members of the delegation,
rode the slideway to the port's administration building, Leoh
commented:

"As you probably know, I have checked through your dueling machine
quite thoroughly via tri-di for the past two weeks. I can find nothing
wrong with it."

Massan shrugged. "Perhaps you should have checked then, the machine on
Szarno."

"The Szarno Confederation? Their dueling machine?"

"Yes. This morning Kanus' hired assassin killed a man in it."

"He won another duel," Leoh said.

"You do not understand," Massan said grimly, "Major Odal's
opp