ded controversial
subjects with Tog even when provoked and she had a sneaky little way of
provoking arguments. They had only one really knock down and drag-out
verbal battle on the way to Kropotkin.

It had started innocently enough after dinner on the space liner on which
they had taken passage for the first part of the trip. To kill time they
were playing Battle Chess with its larger board and added contingents of
pawns and castles.

Ronny said idly, "You know, in spite of the fact that I'm a third
generation United Planets citizen and employee, I'm just beginning to
realize how far out some of our member planets are. I had no idea before."

She frowned in concentration, before moving. She was advancing her men in
echelon attack, taking losses in exchange for territory and trying to pen
him up in such small space that he couldn't maneuver.

She said, "How do you mean?"

Ronny lifted and dropped a shoulder. "Well, New Delos and its theocracy,
for instance, and Shangri-La and Mother and some of the other planets with
extremes in government of socio-economic system. I hadn't the vaguest idea
about such places."

She made a deprecating sound. "You should see Amazonia, or, for that
matter, the Orwellian State."

"_Amazonia_," he said, "does that mean what it sounds like it does?"

She made her move and settled back in satisfaction. Her pawns were in such
position that his bishops were both unusable. He'd tried to play a phalanx
game in the early stages of her attack, but she'd broken through, rolling
up his left flank after sacrificing a castle and a knight.

"Certainly does," she said. "A fairly recently colonized planet. A few
thousand feminists no men at all--moved onto it a few centuries ago. And
it's still an out and out matriarchy."

Ronny cleared his throat delicately. "Without men ... ah, how did they
continue several centuries?"

Tog suppressed her amusement. "Artificial insemination, at first, so I
understand. They brought their, ah, supply with them. But then there were
boys among the first generation on the new planet and even the Amazonians
weren't up to cold bloodedly butchering their children. So they merely
enslaved them. Nice girls."

Ronny stared at her. "You mean all men are automatically slaves on this
planet?"

"That's right."

Ronny made an improperly thought out move, trying to bring up a castle to
reinforce his collapsing flank. He said, "UP allows _anybody_ to join
evidently," and