ike a teener's. "Could be I'm very particular, darling, but," her look
was suddenly beseeching, "the truth is, I'm protected."

A slow, tiny fire of distaste fanned itself alive in Allen's brain. Why
in the name of World Government did every other girl who made first play
with him have to be protected? But there was his out. By unwritten
social code he could declare the date off. Except that he had grown to
increasingly hate the spiteful practice of 'protection'. It meant Nedda
had peeved some local lothario who, along with other males in his
clique, was going to damn well see she wasn't intimate with anyone else
until she begged another date with the original one. If you had a
sadistic turn of mind, it meant you could keep a delectable bit in
freeze until her natural inclinations forced her into your arms. But
you'd have to fight any man who tried to date her in the meantime.

Fighting was legal, of course, as long as the loser was surgically
repairable, and it was considered a normal catharsis for strained
relationships between males.

Not, Allen thought glumly, that he had any stake in the future of
frantically weary society, but he had reached the conclusion long ago
that a man without the courage to back up his personal convictions
wasn't worth the energy it took to down him.

He stopped and held Nedda against him protectively. "I still want the
date, sprite," he said. "I have to leave early tomorrow, but I'll try
to get you out of protection--okay?"

Her lips trembled. "Oh, yes. If you knew how it's been, these last few
days--"

He shook her again, but more tenderly. "Deal. We'll try to reach your
compartment." Living quarters were a sanctuary no one but a medic could
legally enter without invitation. He removed his stainless
identification plaque and slipped its chain about her throat. "If you
see any of the guys who're watching for you, tell me but don't look at
them." He took her arm again and alertly began to work through the
throng. "Describe your protector."

"Jeff Neal-Hayne. He's big, Al. Bigger than you. Heavier, but you've got
muscles like he never saw. You look faster, too."

Allen didn't know him, but the name was revealing. Not that anything but
your Earth society number was official, but use of a double surname
meant your father had elected to stay with your mother for at least a
while after you were born. Most babies, of course, were immediately
turned over to a Government creche, but it ha