lly true, or is it just some more of this
government propaganda you fellows like to hand out?"

Frazer sighed. "It's true, all right. There was a scientist named
Robertson, and he did come up with the thermo-nuc formula, way back in
'75. Proved it, too. Use what he developed and the chain-reaction
would never end. Scientists in other countries tested the theory and
agreed; there was no collusion, it just worked out that way on a
practical basis. Hasn't been a war since--what more proof do you
want?"

"Well, couldn't they just use some of the old-fashioned hydrogen
bombs?"

"Be sensible, man! Once a war started, no nation could resist the
temptation to go all-out. Fortunately, everyone realizes that. So we
have peace. Permanent peace."

"I'll take a good war anytime, in preference to this."

"Harry, you don't know what you're talking about. You aren't so young
that you can't remember what it was like in the old days. Everybody
living in fear, waiting for the bombs to fall. People dying of disease
and worried about dying from radiation and fallout. All the
international rivalries, the power-politics, the eternal pressures and
constant crises. Nobody in his right mind would want to go back to
_that_. We've come a mighty long way in the last twenty years or so."

Harry switched to autopilot and sat back. "Maybe that's the trouble,"
he said. "Maybe we've come too far, too fast. I wasn't kidding about
dropping those thermo-nucs, either. _Something_ has to be done. We
can't go on like this indefinitely. Why doesn't the Board come up with
an answer?"

Frazer shrugged his heavy shoulders. "You think we haven't tried,
aren't trying now? We're aware of the situation as well as you
are--and then some. But there's no easy solution. The population just
keeps growing, that's all. No war to cut it down, contagious diseases
at a minimum, average life-expectancy up to ninety years or better.
Naturally, this results in a problem. But a bomb won't help bring
about any permanent solution. Besides, this isn't a local matter, or
even a national one. It's global. What do you think those summit
meetings are all about?"

"What about birth control?" Harry asked. "Why don't they really get
behind an emigration movement?"

"We can't limit procreation by law. You know that." Frazer peered out
at the swarming streams on the sidewalk levels. "It's more than a
religious or a political question--it's a social one. People want
kids. They can