aid. "He won't kill you. Not at first,
at least. He's the loneliest man in the universe, because he has given
up one world for another that he hasn't gained yet. There will be no one
he can confide in. He'll know you have come to kill him, but he won't be
able to resist talking to you first. Particularly if you make it easy
for him to defeat you. Not too easy--he must feel he is outthinking you.
You'll have a gun for him to take away, but that will be too obvious.
This small gun will be hidden as well, and when he finds that, too, he
should be taken off his guard. Not much, but enough for you to kill him.
Don't wait. Do it at the first opportunity."

* * * * *

Out of the corner of his eye, Neel could see the radiophone clipped to
the front of his jacket. It was slightly tarnished, looking like any one
of ten thousand in daily use--almost a duplicate of the one Hengly wore.
A universal symbol of the age, like the keys and small change in his
pockets.

Only Neel's phone was a deadly weapon. Product of a research into sudden
death that he had never been aware of before. All he had to do was get
it near Hengly, the mechanism had been armed when he put it on. It had a
range of two feet. As soon as it was that far from any part of his body
it would be actuated.

"Can I ask you a question, Hengly?" His words cut loudly through the run
of the other man's speech.

Hengly frowned at the interruption, then nodded permission. "Go ahead,"
he said. "What would you like to know?"

"The obvious. Why did you do it? Change sides I mean. Give up a positive
work, for this ... this negative corruption...."

"That's how much you know about it." Hengly was shouting now. "Positive,
negative. War, peace. Those are just words, and it took me years to
find it out. What could be more positive than making something of my
life--and of this planet at the same time. It's in my power to do it,
and I've done it."

"Power, perhaps that's the key word," Neel said, suddenly very tired.
"We have the stars now but we have carried with us our little personal
lusts and emotions. There's nothing wrong with that, I suppose, as long
as we keep them personal. It's when we start inflicting them on others
the trouble starts. Well, it's over now. At least this time."

With a single, easy motion he unclipped the radiophone and flipped it
across the desk towards Hengly.

"Good-by," he said.

The tiny mechanism clattered ont