his face
nervously. Mitch had never spent much time worrying about ethics and
creeds and political philosophies. He'd had a job to do, and he did it,
and he sometimes sneered at people who could wax starry-eyed about
patriotism and such. It didn't make sense. The old school spirit was
okay for football games, and even for small-time wars, but he had never
felt much of it. He hadn't needed it in order to be a good fighter. He
fought because it was considered the "thing to do," because he liked the
people he had to live with, and because those people wouldn't have a
good opinion of him if he didn't fight. People never needed much of a
philosophic motive to make them do the socially approved things.

He moistened his lips nervously and stared at the microphone. He was
scared. Scared to run away. He had never been afraid of a _fight_,
frightened maybe, but not afraid. Why now? _It takes a lot of courage to
be a coward_, he thought, but the word _coward_ made him wince. He
groped blindly for a reasonable explanation of his desire to desert. He
wanted to talk to somebody about it, because he was the kind of man who
could think best in an argument. But there was no one to talk to except
the radio.

The computer's keyboard was almost at his elbow. He stared at it for a
moment, then slowly typed:

DATA: WIND OUT OF THE NORTH, WAVE FACTOR 0.50 ROUGHNESS SCALE.

INSTRUCTIONS: SUGGEST ACTION.

The machine chewed on the entry noisily for a few seconds, then
answered: INSUFFICIENT DATA.

He nodded thoughtfully. That was his predicament too: insufficient data
about his own motives. How could a man trust himself to judge wisely,
when his judgement went completely against that of his society? He typed
again.

DATA FOR HYPOTHETICAL PROBLEM: YOU HAVE JUST SOLVED A NAVIGATIONAL
PROBLEM WHOSE SOLUTION REQUIRES COURSE DUE WEST. THREE OTHER COMPUTERS
SOLVE SAME PROBLEM AND GET COURSE DUE SOUTH. MALFUNCTION NOT EVIDENT IN
ANY OF FOUR COMPUTERS.

INSTRUCTIONS: FURNISH A COURSE.

The computer clattered for awhile, then typed: SUGGESTION: MALFUNCTION
INDICATORS ARE POSSIBLY MALFUNCTIONING. IS DATA AVAILABLE?

He stared at it, then laughed grimly. His _own_ malfunction-indicator
wasn't telling him much either. With masochistic fatalism he touched the
keyboard again.

DATA NOT AVAILABLE. FURNISH A COURSE.

The computer replied almost immediately this time: COURSE: DUE WEST.

Mitch stared at it and bit his lip. The machine would fol