re. Don't want to waste time, do we? The ship is open, they
can check that whenever they please."

My manner, clothes, jewelry, the easy way I passed money around and the
luxurious sheen of my bags, could mean only one thing. There was little
that was worth smuggling into or out of Cittanuvo. Certainly nothing a
rich man would be interested in. The official murmured something with a
smile, spoke a few words into his phone, and the job was done.

A small wave of custom men hung stickers on my luggage, peeked into one
or two for conformity's sake, and waved me through. I shook hands all
around--a rustling hand-clasp of course--then was on my way. A cab was
summoned, a hotel suggested. I nodded agreement and settled back while
the robot loaded the bags about me.

* * * * *

The ship was completely clean. Everything I might need for the job was
in my luggage. Some of it quite lethal and explosive, and very
embarrassing if it was discovered in my bags. In the safety of my hotel
suite I made a change of clothes and personality. After the robot had
checked the rooms for bugs.

And very nice gadgets too, these Corps robots. It looked and acted like
a moron M-3 all the time. It was anything but. The brain was as good as
any other robot brain I have known, plus the fact that the chunky body
was crammed with devices and machines of varying use. It chugged slowly
around the room, moving my bags and laying out my kit. And all the time
following a careful route that covered every inch of the suite. When it
had finished it stopped and called the all-clear.

"All rooms checked. Results negative except for one optic bug in that
wall."

"Should you be pointing like that?" I asked the robot. "Might make
people suspicious, you know."

"Impossible," the robot said with mechanical surety. "I brushed against
it and it is now unserviceable."

With this assurance I pulled off my flashy clothes and slipped into the
midnight black dress uniform of an admiral in the League Grand Fleet. It
came complete with decorations, gold bullion, and all the necessary
documents. I thought it a little showy myself, but it was just the thing
to make the right impression on Cittanuvo. Like many other planets, this
one was uniform-conscious. Delivery boys, street cleaners, clerks--all
had to have characteristic uniforms. Much prestige attached to them, and
my black dress outfit should rate as high as any uniform in the gala