horst asked in mild surprise.
"You've met these Belt men on Luna."

"And their women," Danley said with a nod. "But the impact is somewhat
more pronounced on their own home ground--seeing them _en masse_."

"Their women!" Tarnhorst said, caught by the phrase. "_Fah!_
Bright-colored birds! Giggling children! And no more morals than a
common house-cat!"

"Oh, they're not as bad as all that," Danley objected. "Their clothing
is a little bright, I'll admit, and they laugh and kid around a lot, but
I wouldn't say that their morals were any worse than those of a girl
from New York or London."

"Arrogance is the word," said Tarnhorst. "Arrogance. Like the way that
Alhamid kept standing all the time we were talking, towering over us
that way."

"Just habit," Danley said. "When you don't weigh more than six or seven
pounds, there's not much point in sitting down. Besides, it leaves them
on their feet in case of emergency."

"He could have sat down out of politeness," Tarnhorst said. "But no.
They try to put on an air of superiority that is offensive to human
dignity." He leaned back in his chair, stretched out his legs, and
crossed his ankles. "However, attitude itself needn't concern us until
it translates itself into anti-social behavior. What cannot be tolerated
is this callous attitude toward the dignity and well-being of the
workers out here. What did you think of Alhamid's explanation of this
anchor-setting business?"

Danley hesitated. "It sounded straightforward enough, as far as it
went."

"You think he's concealing something, then?"

"I don't know. I don't have all the information." He frowned, putting
furrows between his almost invisible blond brows. "I know that neither
government business nor insurance business are my specialty, but I would
like to know a little more about the background before I render any
decision."

"Hm-m-m. Well." Tarnhorst frowned in thought for a moment, then came to
a decision. "I can't give you the detailed data, of course; that would
be a violation of the People's Mutual Welfare Code. But I can give you
the general story."

"I just want to know what sort of thing to look for," Danley said.

"Certainly. Certainly. Well." Tarnhorst paused to collect his thoughts,
then launched into his speech. "It has now been over eighty years since
the first colonists came out here to the Belt. At first, the ties with
Earth were quite strong, naturally. Only a few actually intended to stay