being loosened.

_No! Don't!_ The scalding cold methane ammonia sea seeped in through
the opening viewplate.

"It's only a dream!" Massan shouted to himself. "Only a dream. A
dream. A--"

XI

Dr. Leoh stared at the dinner table without really seeing it. Coming
to the restaurant had been Hector's idea. Three hours earlier, Massan
had been removed from the dueling machine--dead.

Leoh sat stolidly, hands in lap, his mind racing in many different
directions at once. Hector was off at the phone, getting the latest
information from the meditechs. Odal had expressed his regrets
perfunctorily, and then left for the Kerak Embassy, under a heavy
escort of his own plainclothes guards. The government of the
Acquataine Cluster was quite literally falling apart, with no man
willing to assume responsibility ... and thereby expose himself. One
hour after the duel, Kanus' troops had landed on all the major planets
of the Szarno Confederacy; the annexation was a _fait accompli_.

_And what have I done since I arrived on Acquatainia?_ Leoh demanded
of himself. _Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I have sat back like a
doddering old professor and played academic games with the machine,
while younger, more vigorous men have USED the machine to suit their
purposes._

Used the machine. There was a fragment of an idea in that phrase.
Something nebulous, that must be approached carefully or it will fade
away. Used the machine, ... used it ... Leoh toyed with the phrase for
a few moments then gave it up with a sigh of resignation. _Lord, I'm
too tired even to think._

Leoh focused his attention on his surroundings and scanned the busy
dining room. It was a beautiful place, really; decorated with crystal
and genuine woods and fabric draperies. Not a synthetic in sight. The
waiters and cooks and busboys were humans, not the autocookers and
servers that most restaurants employed. Leoh suddenly felt touched at
Hector's attempt to restore his spirits--even if it was being done at
Star Watch expense.

He saw the young Watchman approaching the table, coming back from the
phone. Hector bumped two waiters and stumbled over a chair before
reaching the relative safety of his own seat.

"What's the verdict?" Leoh asked.

Hector's lean face was bleak. "Couldn't revive him. Cerebral
hemorrhage, the meditechs said--induced by shock."

"Shock?"

"That's what they said. Something must've, uh, overloaded his nervous
system ... I guess."

Leoh s