k, because violence is madness.
This time we have to begin where we are and build rationally. We can,
you know, when we understand what we have to build with."

"What else do we need to know, Dawn? You're falling back on the
typical double-talk of the psychiatrists. With all the application of
physical science that we have--"

"I wasn't thinking of technology, Captain. Civilization isn't
machines. It's people. Our accumulation of knowledge is tremendous,
but essentially it means nothing because we know so little about
ourselves. It's absurd to talk of making something better until we
really know the individual we're making it for."

"Go ahead," he countered angrily. "Pussy-foot around with your
cautious experiments, make sure nobody gets hurt--and you'll all end
up slaves. As for me, I'm going to find Ann and get out while there's
still time."

"Always the same two alternatives," Dawn said wearily. "Pull down the
world, or run away from it. We need the courage to try something
different. We need men who will act like men. I thought, Captain, by
this time--" She looked up into his eyes. "Where are you going?"

"To the top--the casinos." Her abrupt question took him off balance
and almost surprised him into telling the whole truth.

"Top level." She paused, studying his face. "That's logical, of
course. You'll rescue your woman and run away--perhaps to the
frontier, or to a forgotten world too insignificant to be claimed by
either cartel. It all sounds so easy, doesn't it? You have friends in
the service. They'll smuggle you away from Sector West." She hesitated
again. "Running away is insanity, too, Captain. But that is one thing
you still have to learn."

VII

Max Hunter rode the autojet to the casino. As the machine rose past
the city levels, he found himself thinking less about Ann and a good
deal more about Dawn--a Recreational companion woman who was
simultaneously a psychiatrist. Where did she really fit in the subtle
battle between the titan cartels? Which of them was her ally--or did
Dawn represent another element as yet unidentified?

Knowing Ann Saymer had taught Hunter a wholesome respect for the
thinking of a First in Psychiatry. They operated with a deviousness
that made cartel treacheries seem like child's play. He knew that Dawn
had manipulated their conversation in the terminal to her own ends.
Behind that deftly-phrased patter of words, what else had she tried to
tell him? And what had she