r more
information? Kerk was the man he had talked to best, but not any more.
That left only Meta as a possible source. He wanted to see her at once,
but sudden exhaustion swept through him. It took all of his strength to
stumble back to the school buildings.

* * * * *

In the morning he ate and left early. There was only a week left. It was
impossible to hurry and he cursed as he dragged his double-weight body
to the assignment center. Meta was on night perimeter duty and should
be back to her quarters soon. He shuffled over there and was lying on
her bunk when she came in.

"Get out," she said in a flat voice. "Or do I throw you out?"

"Patience, please," he said as he sat up. "Just resting here until you
came back. I have a single question, and if you will answer it for me
I'll go and stop bothering you."

"What is it?" she asked, tapping her foot with impatience. But there was
also a touch of curiosity in her voice. Jason thought carefully before
he spoke.

"Now _please_, don't shoot me. You know I'm an off-worlder with a big
mouth, and you have heard me say some awful things without taking a shot
at me. Now I have another one. Will you please show your superiority to
the other people of the galaxy by holding your temper and not reducing
me to component atoms?"

His only answer was a tap of the foot, so he took a deep breath and
plunged in.

"What is a 'grubber'?"

For a long moment she was quiet, unmoving. Then she curled her lips back
in disgust. "You find the most repulsive topics."

"That may be so," he said, "but it still doesn't answer my question."

"It's ... well, the sort of thing people just don't talk about."

"I do," he assured her.

"Well, I _don't_! It's the most disgusting thing in the world, and
that's all I'm going to say. Talk to Krannon, but not to me." She had
him by the arm while she talked and he was half dragged to the hall. The
door slammed behind him and he muttered "_lady wrestler_" under his
breath. His anger ebbed away as he realized that she had given him a
clue in spite of herself. Next step, find out who or what Krannon was.

Assignment center listed a man named Krannon, and gave his shift number
and work location. It was close by and Jason walked there. A large,
cubical, and windowless building, with the single word _food_ next to
each of the sealed entrances. The small entrance he went through was a
series of automatic chambers that c