not on Deneb IV. During
his transmigration he had been briefed for the trouble on Deneb IV. Then
had a mistake been made somehow? It was always possible--but it had
never happened before.

Too much precision and careful planning was involved.

Every world which had an Earthman population and a Galactic League--now,
Galactic Federation--post, must have a body in cold storage, waiting for
Johnny Mayhem if his services were required. No one knew when Mayhem's
services might be required. No one knew exactly under what circumstances
the Galactic Federation Council, operating from the Hub of the Galaxy,
might summon Mayhem. And only a very few people, including those at the
Hub and the Galactic League Firstmen on civilized worlds and Observers
on frontier planets, knew the precise mechanics of Mayhem's coming.

* * * * *

Johnny Mayhem, a bodiless sentience. Mayhem--Johnny Marlow then--who
had been chased from Earth a pariah and a criminal seven years ago, who
had been mortally wounded on a wild planet deep within the Sagittarian
Swarm, whose life had been saved--after a fashion--by the white magic
of that planet. Mayhem, doomed now to possible immortality as a
bodiless sentience, an _elan_, which could occupy and activate a corpse
if it had been preserved properly ... an _elan_ doomed to wander
eternally because it could not remain in one body for more than a month
without body and _elan_ perishing. Mayhem, who had dedicated his
strange, lonely life to the services of the Galactic League--now the
Galactic Federation--because a normal life and normal social relations
were not possible to him....

It did not seem possible, Mayhem thought now, that a mistake could be
made. Then--a sudden change in plans?

It had never happened before, but it was entirely possible. Something,
Mayhem decided, had come up during transmigration. It was terribly
important and the people at the Hub had had no opportunity to brief him
on it.

But--what?

* * * * *

His first shock came a moment later. He walked to a mirror on the wall
and approved of the strong young body which would house his sentience
and then scowled. A thought inside his head said:

_So this is what it's like to have schizophrenia._

_What the hell was that?_ Mayhem thought.

_I said, so this is what it's like to have schizophrenia. First the
world's worst headache and then I start thinking like two diff