Mrs. Fallon, "and I simply can't
seem to find one I'd like for keeps."

"Then why the devil don't you get another husband?"

Mrs. Fallon looked shocked. "Why, he was assigned to me!"

"Dr. Hoyt just came from Earth," Dr. Kalmar cut in at last, before a
brawl could start. "He's not familiar with our methods."

"Let's hear the cockeyed reason," Dr. Hoyt said resignedly.

"We keep our population balanced," said Dr. Kalmar. "Too many of either
sex creates tension, hostility, loss of efficiency; look at Earth if you
want proof. We can't risk even a little of that, so we use prenatal sex
control to keep them exactly equal."

"There's a wife for every man," Mr. Fallon put in genially, "and a
husband for every woman. Works out fine."

"With no surplus," Dr. Kalmar added. "There are no floaters to allow the
kind of marital moving day you have on Earth, where so many just up and
shift over to new mates. We get ours for life. That's where Ego Alter
and Rephysical come in."

"You mean people bring in their mates to have them done over?"

"If they're not satisfied and if the mates agree to be changed."

"I don't mind," said Mr. Fallon virtuously. "I figure Mabel will decide
what she wants one of these changes, and then we can settle down and be
happy with each other."

"But what about you?" asked Dr. Hoyt, bewildered. "Don't you want her
changed?"

"Oh, no. I like her fine just as she is."

"You see now how it works?" Dr. Kalmar asked. "We can't have a variety
of mates, but we can have all the variety we want in one mate. It comes
to the same thing, as far as I can see, and causes much less confusion,
especially since we need stable relationships."

Dr. Hoyt was striving heroically to stay indignant in spite of the
sedative. "And do many ask to have their mates changed?"

"I guess we're a sort of record, aren't we?" Mr. Fallon boasted.

"I guess you are," agreed Dr. Kalmar. "And now, Dr. Hoyt, if there
aren't any more questions, I'd like to proceed with this couple."

Dr. Hoyt stretched his eyes wide to keep them open. "It's all screwy to
me, but it's none of my business. As soon as I finish my internship, I'm
heading back to Earth, where things make sense, so I don't have to
understand this mishmash you call a planet. Need help?"

"If you'd find out what Mrs. Fallon has in mind this time, it would let
me run the patients through a lot faster."

"How would they feel about it?" Dr. Hoyt asked.

"It's all righ