st
settled, and cooled off, there weren't very many of you left. Lots of
us--it was your war, remember--but not very many of you. Of course
there was a Revolt then, and all the boxed up, driven in hatred and
bloodshed boiled up and over, and you Sharkies at long last got your
chain tied right around your waists. You were a long, long time
building it, and now you can wear it--"

* * * * *

Tam's face was chalky. "Dave--there were some of us--you know there
were many of us that hated it as much as you did, before the Revolt.
Some of us fought, some of us at least tried--"

The big man nodded his head, bitterly. "You thought you tried, sure.
It was the noble thing to do, the romantic thing, the _good_ thing to
do. But you didn't really believe it. I know--I thought there was some
hope, back then, some chance to straighten things out without a
Revolt. For a long time I thought that you, and those like you, really
meant all you were saying, I thought somehow we could find an equal
footing, an end to the hatred and bitterness. But there wasn't any
end, and you never really thought there ever would be. That made it so
safe--it would never succeed, so when things were quiet it was a nice
idea to toy around with, this equality for all, a noble project that
couldn't possibly succeed. But when things got hot, it was a different
matter." He stared at Tam, his dark eyes brooding. "Oh, it wasn't just
you, Tam. You were my best friend, even though it was a hopeless,
futile friendship. You tried, you did the best you could, I know. But
it _just wasn't true_, Tam. When it came to the pinch, to a real jam,
you would have been just like the rest, basically. It was built up in
you, drummed into you, until no amount of fighting could ever scour it
out--"

Dave Hawke stood up, walked over to the window, staring out across the
great city. Tam watched him, the blood roaring in his ears, hardly
able to believe what he had heard from the big man, fighting to keep
his mind from sinking into total confusion. Somewhere a voice deep
within him seemed to be struggling through with confirmation, telling
him that Dave Hawke was right, that he never really _had_ believed.
Suddenly Dave turned to him, his dark eyes intense. "Look, Tam," he
said, quickly, urgently. "There are jobs you can get. Go to Mercury
for a while, work the mines--not long, just for a while, out there in
the sun--then you can come back--"

Tam's