le of acting on my own. Always the doubts and secret
questioning. If the social structure of our world weren't moribund, I
wouldn't be here at all...._

"History, Virginia," he said, "can't explain what there is no
precedent for. The Creche is unique in human experience."

"The Creche may be, Han, but Sweyn Erikson is not. Consider his
background and tell me if there hasn't been an Erikson in every era
of recorded history. He is merely another obstacle in the path of
progress that must be overcome. The job is yours, Han."

"A pleasant prospect," Merrick replied bleakly. "I am an organizer,
not a psychotechnician. How am I supposed to protect the Creche from
the likes of Erikson? What insanity bore this fruit, Virginia? The
Prophet, the number one Fanatic, coming here as an _investigator_ in
the name of the Council of Ten! I realize the Council turns pale at
the thought of the vote the Fanatics control, but surely _something_
could have been done! Have those idiots forgotten what we do here? Is
that possible?"

Virginia Merrick shook her head. "The stone got too hot for them to
handle, so they've thrown it to you."

"But Erikson, himself! The very man who organized the Human Supremacy
Party and the Antirobot League! If he sets foot within the Creche it
will mean an end to everything!"

The woman lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. "We can't keep him out
and you know it. There's an army of Fanatics gathering out there in
the hills this very minute. Armed with cortical-stimulant projectors,
Han. That isn't a pleasant way to die--"

Merrick studied his wife carefully. There was fear under her iron
control. She was thinking of the shattering pain of death under the
projectors. Nothing else, really. The Creche didn't matter to her. The
Creche didn't really matter to any of the staff. Three hundred years
ago it would have been different. The custodians of the Creche would
have gladly died to preserve their trust in those times....

What irony, Merrick thought, that it should come like this. He knew
what the projectors did to men. He also knew what they did to robots.

"If they dare to use their weapons on us it will wipe out every
vestige of control work done here since the beginning," he said
softly.

"They have no way of knowing that."

"Nor would they believe it if we told them."

"And that brings us right back to where we started. You can't keep
Erikson out, and the Council of Ten has left us on our own. The