ttered chart.

"Are you sure you know what you do want?" asked the relaxed man with a
yawn.

"I'm coming to it," said Marcus. "Fifty years ago, my father, Mathew
Mezzerow, discovered a planet. Things being the way they were then,
planet stealing and such, Captain Mezzerow didn't come back and report
it. He settled on it right there, securing for his heirs and descendants
a proper share of the new world."

"What do you expect for that, a medal?"

"He could have had a medal. Being practical, he preferred a part of the
planet. Since then, we have become a thriving community. But we're not
growing as fast as we should. That's why I'm here."

"You've come to the wrong place," said the man. "P-EHF is what you
want."

"Planets; economic help for? No, we don't want that kind of aid.
However, there is one insignificant mistake that has been hindering us.
People don't settle the way they should. You see, though Captain Mathew
Mezzerow didn't return to report his discovery in person, he did send in
a routine claim. That's where the mistake was made. Naturally he named
the planet after himself. Mezzerow. Mezz--uh--row. The second _e_ is
almost silent, hardly pronounced at all. But what do you think
somebody--a robot, probably--called it?"

"I can't guess."

"Messy Row," said Marcus. "It maligns a good man's name. We're stuck
with it because somebody bobbled."

* * * * *

"I admit it isn't pretty," said the official with a cautious smile. "But
I can't see that it affects anything. One name is as good as another."

"That's what you think," Marcus retorted. "I can see how the robot made
the mistake and I'm not blaming it. My father sent in a verbal tape
report. Mezzerow could sound a little like Messy Row. Anyway, it's had a
bad effect on the settlers. Men come there because it sounds easy and
relaxed, which it is, of course, to a point. But women avoid it. They
don't like the sound of the name."

"Then it's really women you're concerned with," said the official. A
cold glazed stare had replaced his indifference. "In any event, you've
come to the wrong place. We reconstruct planets. Names are out of our
jurisdiction."

"It makes things bad when there aren't enough women," continued Marcus.
"Some men leave when they can't find anyone to marry." He crumpled the
old chart in his hands. "It's not merely that, of course. Simple justice
demands that a great man's name be properly honored."