hrough the heavy dossier in front of her. Finally,
she looked up at him again.

"Clayton, your last conviction was for strong-arm robbery. You were
given a choice between prison on Earth and freedom here on Mars. You
picked Mars."

He nodded slowly. He'd been broke and hungry at the time. A sneaky
little rat named Johnson had bilked Clayton out of his fair share of the
Corey payroll job, and Clayton had been forced to get the money somehow.
He hadn't mussed the guy up much; besides, it was the sucker's own
fault. If he hadn't tried to yell--

Lieutenant Harris went on: "I'm afraid you can't back down now."

"But it isn't fair! The most I'd have got on that frame-up would've
been ten years. I've been here fifteen already!"

"I'm sorry, Clayton. It can't be done. You're here. Period. Forget about
trying to get back. Earth doesn't want you." Her voice sounded choppy,
as though she were trying to keep it calm.

Clayton broke into a whining rage. "You can't do that! It isn't fair! I
never did anything to you! I'll go talk to the Governor! He'll listen to
reason! You'll see! I'll--"

"_Shut up!_" the woman snapped harshly. "I'm getting sick of it! I
personally think you should have been locked up--permanently. I think
this idea of forced colonization is going to breed trouble for Earth
someday, but it is about the only way you can get anybody to colonize
this frozen hunk of mud.

"Just keep it in mind that I don't like it any better than you do--_and
I didn't strong-arm anybody to deserve the assignment!_ Now get out of
here!"

She moved a hand threateningly toward the manual controls of the stun
beam.

Clayton retreated fast. The trackers ignored anyone walking away from
the desk; they were set only to spot threatening movements toward it.

Outside the Rehabilitation Service Building, Clayton could feel the
tears running down the inside of his face mask. He'd asked again and
again--God only knew how many times--in the past fifteen years. Always
the same answer. No.

When he'd heard that this new administrator was a woman, he'd hoped she
might be easier to convince. She wasn't. If anything, she was harder
than the others.

The heat-sucking frigidity of the thin Martian air whispered around him
in a feeble breeze. He shivered a little and began walking toward the
recreation center.

There was a high, thin piping in the sky above him which quickly became
a scream in the thin air.

He turned for a moment to