n the future."

While the agent sat down with a puzzled look, Aron continued, "That is
why, when there is combat between men, it will always be in doubt. Even
though one side may be outnumbered, outmaneuvered and have all the
military laws of advantage against it, that side can still win.

"You have made the one mistake, the perpetual mistake, of combat. You
forgot about the psychological factor. The force that can make a man
surrender when the odds are with him, or fight like a demon when it is
hopeless.

"So long as there is war, this psychological factor will make it an
even, undecided combat despite all laws of logic.

"The psychological factor in this case, the one you overlooked, was that
I love my empire more than my wife. She was merely a companion. You
wouldn't know that, or the reasons for it, unless you knew my whole
life--and not just the events of my life, my whole psychological life."

"Of course we couldn't know that," the enemy agent said, "but we could
go on general rules of human behavior, and those rules deny the fact
that a man can love a state more than a woman."

"Good God!" Aron exclaimed. "What training do you Snooper boys get? You
don't even know the rudiments of psychology. Intelligence men--ha! All
you know how to do is steal papers, kill in the dark and be suspicious
of everyone all the time."

In a quieter tone, Aron went on, "It is easy to love a state like a
woman, because a State is a woman.

"A love for State fulfills all emotional needs. The censorship of
yourself by your super-ego, manifested in a desire for repentance or
masoschism, this need is effected by dedication such as my lonely watch
here.

"Your destructive tendencies, half of the love-hate primary drive of
life, can be expressed by fighting and destroying an enemy. You can't
destroy your wife because of laws, yet everyone wants to.

"The other half of the ambivalent drive, your love desire can be
committed in a platonic admiration or a patriotic zeal as you call it.

"Sure, the State is a woman. It'll kick you around, neglect you and
abuse you; but when she rewards you, she does so lavishly. And this,
plus the self-satisfaction of having protected her from her enemies and
helping her to survive--this is all the consumation of a love affair
that a man could want.

"I know, what about the physical love? If all your other emotional needs
are so well satisfied, you can be happy without that, especially if
you're u