ace changed expression in sudden decision. She opened
her bag and brought forth a Section G identification wallet and flicked it
open. The badge was gold. "I suggest you hurry," she said to the two
agents.

They left, and Tog turned back to Ronny, her eyebrows raised
questioningly.

Ronny sank down into one of the chairs recently occupied by the other two
agents and tried to unravel thoughts. He said finally, "I suppose my
question should be, why do Ross Metaxa and Sid Jakes send an agent of
supervisor rank to act as assistant to a probationary agent? But that's
not what I'm asking yet. First, Lippman just called his buddy Tog. How
come?"

Tog took her seat again, rueful resignation on her face. "You should be
figuring it out on your own by this time, Ronny."

He looked at her belligerently. "I'm too stupid, eh?" The anger was
growing within him.

"Tog," she said. "It's a nickname, or possibly you might call it a title.
Tog. T-O-G. The Other Guy. My name is Lee Chang Chu, and I'm of supervisor
grade presently working at developing new Section G operatives.
Considering the continuing rapid growth of UP, and the continuing crises
that come up in UP activities, developing new operatives is one of the
department's most pressing jobs. Each new agent, on his first assignment,
is always paired with an experienced old-timer."

"I see," he said flatly. "Your principal job being to needle the fledging,
eh?"

She lowered her eyes. "I wouldn't exactly word it that way," she said. She
was obviously unrepentant.

He said, "You must get a lot of laughs out of it. If I say, it seems to me
democracy is a good thing, you give me an argument about the superiority
of rule by an elite. If I say anarchism is ridiculous, you dredge up an
opinion that it's man's highest ethic. You must laugh yourself to sleep at
nights. You and Metaxa and Jakes and every other agent in Section G.
Everybody is in on the Tog gag but the sucker."

"Sometimes there are amusing elements to the work," Lee Chang conceded,
demurely.

"Just one more thing I'd like to ask," Ronny rapped. "This first
assignment, agents are given. Is it always to look for Tommy Paine?"

She looked up at him, said nothing, but her eyes were questioning.

"Don't worry," he snapped. "I've already found out who Paine is."

"Ah?" She was suddenly interested. "Then I'm glad I ordered that other
probationary agent to leave. Evidently, he hasn't. Obviously, I didn't
want the two