.

"Mr. Arkalion?" demanded the sergeant, picking at his teeth with a
toothpick.

"Yes. I have come for Alaric, my son."

"Sure. Sure. But your son's in trouble, Mr. Arkalion. Serious
trouble."

"What are you talking about? If there are any damages, I'll pay. He
didn't--hurt anyone, did he?"

The sergeant broke the toothpick between his teeth, laughed. "Him?
Naw. He got the hell beat out of him by a drunk half his size. It
ain't that kind of trouble, Mr. Arkalion. You know what an 1182 card
is, mister?"

Arkalion's face drained white. "Why--yes."

"Alaric's got one."

"Naturally."

"According to the card, he should have shipped out on the Nowhere
Journey, mister. He didn't. He's in serious trouble."

"I'll see the district attorney."

"More'n likely, you'll see the attorney general. Serious trouble."

CHAPTER V

The trouble with the Stalintrek, Sophia thought, was that it took
months to get absolutely nowhere. There had been the painful pressure,
the loss of consciousness, the confinement in this tight little world
of dormitories and gleaming metal walls, the uncanny feeling of no
weight, the ability--boring after a while, but interesting at
first--to float about in air almost at will.

Then, how many months of sameness? Sophia had lost all track of time
through _ennui_. But for the first brief period of adjustment on the
part of her fellows to the fact that although she was a woman and
shared their man's life she was still to be inviolate, the routine had
been anything but exciting. The period of adjustment had had its
adventures, its uncertainties, its challenge, and to Sophia it had
been stimulating. Why was it, she wondered, that the men who carried
their sex with strength and dignity, the hard-muscled men who could
have their way with her if they resorted to force were the men who did
not violate her privacy, while the weaklings, the softer, smaller men,
or the average men whom Sophia considered her physical equals were the
ones who gave her trouble?

She had always accepted her beauty, the obvious attraction men found
in her, with an objective unconcern. She had been endowed with sex
appeal; there was not much room in her life to exploit it, even had
she wanted to. Now, now when she wanted anything but that, it gave her
trouble.

Her room was shared, of necessity, with three men. Tall, gangling
Boris gave her no trouble, turned his back when she undressed for the
evening, even though sh