on a small table, which he pushed over to his
superior's desk.

Idly, Morely fingered through the cards, noting the indexing and
condition of the file. He nodded in approval, then gave the clerk a nod
of dismissal. At least, his people were keeping their files in order.

He reached into a pocket, to withdraw a notebook. Turning its pages, he
found a few of the entries he had made on population changes, then
cross-checked them against the files. All were posted and properly
cross-indexed. Again, he nodded in satisfaction.

Evidently, that last dressing down he had given the files section had
done some good. For a moment, he considered calling in the chief clerk
and complimenting him. Then, he changed his mind.

"No use giving him a swelled head," he told himself.

He drew a file drawer to him, running his finger down its length. At
last, he pulled a card at random. It was colored light blue.

He put it back. Didn't want to check a group leader. He'd be a
first-class citizen, and entitled to privacy. He pulled another card
from a different section of the file. This one was salmon pink--an
assistant group leader. He examined it. The man was a junior equipment
designer in one of the communications plants. For a moment, Morely
tapped the card against his desk. Actually, he had wanted a basic
employee, but it might be well to check one of the leadmen. He could
have the man accompany him while he made a further check on one of the
apartments in his sub-group. Again, he looked at the card.

Paul Graham, he noted, was forty-two years of age. He had three
children--was an electronics designer, junior grade. His professional
profile showed considerable ability and training, but the security
profile showed a couple of threes. Nothing really serious, but he would
be naturally expected to be a second-class citizen--or below. It was not
an unusual card.

Morely looked at the quarters code. Graham lived in Apartment 7A, Group
723, which was in Block 1022, Sector Fourteen. It would be well to check
his quarters first, then check, say, 7E. Morely went through the
numerical file, found the card under 7E, and flipped the pages of his
notebook to a blank sheet, upon which he copied the data he needed from
the two cards.

He put the notebook in his pocket and returned the cards to their places
in the file, then riffled the entire file once more, to be sure there
would be no clue as to which cards he had consulted. Finally, he touch