n?"

Nelsen answered him in clipped fashion. "Thanks. But let's not dawdle
too much. I've got a lot of wreckage to put back together... Maybe I've
still got it figured wrong, Tiflin. But lately I began to think the
other way. You were always around when trouble was cooking--like part of
it, _or like a good cop_. The first might still be right."

Tiflin sneered genially. "Some cops can't carry badges. And they don't
always stop trouble, but they try... Anyhow, what side do you think I
was on, after Fessler kicked me around for months...? Let Igor go. He's
got law and order in his soul. I kind of like having him around... But
keep your mouths buttoned, will you? I'm talking to you, Mr. Baines, and
you, Mr. Kuzak, as well as to you, Nelsen. And I'm take my bubb along,
the same as the other ninety or so guys who are left from Parnay's
crowd. I've got to look good with them... Cheers, you slobs. See you
around..."

Afterwards, Joe growled, "Hell--what do you know! Him...! Special
Police. Undercover. U.N., U.S., or what?"

"Shut up," Nelsen growled.

Though he had sensed it coming and had met it calmly, the Tiflin switch
was something that Frank Nelsen had trouble getting over. It confused
him. It made him want to laugh.

Another thing that began to bother him even more was the realization
that the violence, represented by Fessler, Fanshaw, Parnay, and
thousands of others like them back through history, was bound to crop up
again. It was part of the complicated paradox of human nature. And it
was hard to visualize a time when there wouldn't be followers--frustrated
slobs who wanted to get out and kick over the universe. Nelsen had felt
such urges cropping up within himself. So this wasn't the end of
trouble--especially not out here in raw space, that was still far too
big for man-made order.

So it wasn't just the two, opposed space navies patrolling, more quietly
now, between Ceres and Pallas. That condition could pass. The way people
always chose--or were born to--different sides was another matter. Or
was it just the natural competition of life in whatever form? More
disturbing, perhaps, was the mere fact of trying to live here, so close
to natural forces that could kill in an instant.

For example, Nelsen often saw two children and a dog racing around
inside one of the rotating bubbs--having fun as if just in a back yard.
If the stellene were ripped, the happy picture would change to horror...
How long would it