st as the professor
reached for it. "I'll dial some for you if you like," he offered.

"Oh, no, Edward! I'm dieting, you see, and I like to think--well, as
I've told you so often in class, we all practise self-deception of a
sort. Usually it's harmless--and almost always we symbolize it in
words. For me the symbol is diet.

"I set up a specialized definition and convince myself that I am
dieting if I never directly order fattening food. That gives me an
escape hatch. If food is offered to me or if it happens to--ah--to
fall into my hands, I can take it and still keep a clear conscience."

"Perhaps you practise more self-deception than you know, Dr. Kramer,"
said Eddie. "For instance, all your fine words about the strength and
vitality of our new system--when I was a boy we licked the Vininese
Confederacy. We couldn't do it today."

"That's a matter of opinion. We're at peace now and we'll remain so."

"Only because we have the Nuclear Beams. And look how we've botched
that mess! Our scientists gave the process to the Vininese in order to
patch together a peace when we could have destroyed their civilization
completely."

"And our own too--with the weight of such a crime on our group
conscience. There's one thing you still must learn, Edward--scientific
progress is made by the sharing of ideas, not the concealment of them.
We build the future upon the truths of the past and the present. If
some of those truths are hidden away we create falsely on utterly
false foundations."

Dr. Kramer pulled a manila envelope from his pocket and laid it on the
table, pushing back his chair. "I must go, Edward; these are the notes
on my lecture. As I told you before, I really came here for something
else. I wanted to talk to you, to get to understand you better. I
think I've learned a great deal."

The little professor was no longer smiling and the gentle touch of
banter was gone from his voice. Dirrul felt a creeping fear rise
within him. How much had he unconsciously revealed? How many of his
own beliefs had Dr. Kramer been able to read between the lines?

Knowing them, would he guess Dirrul's connection with the Movement?
The professor's bland naivete could be the mask of a police informer.
Dirrul shivered, remembering the sudden punishment that had overtaken
Glenna and Hurd.

At the door Dr. Kramer paused and said, "I'm entertaining two or three
of the university faculty this evening, Edward. They've read some of
the pap