Suddenly, the Sime turned on Cheryl, suspicion drawing his clean-linedface into a new and fearsome countenance. "You! You canrun back to your husband and tell him I won't let Distect seditionget to me!"

"Not Distect sedition – common sense! I could tell youall the answers instead of asking questions. I could show youthe fundamental error in your assumptions, but I promised notto try and convert you just now. I haven't, have I?"

He regarded her silently. "Yone, to what kind of governmentare questions seditious? To what kind of government are theydestructive? Is that what the Tecton is?"

"No." His voice was quieter now, thoughtful but stilldesperate. He went to the door of the tent, looked out into thenight, and thought. She busied herself putting the pots awayand banking the fire as an excuse to outstay her welcome. Atlength, he sighed audibly and turned. "No. I would notassociate with such an organization."

"I know. I wouldn't work for just any Tecton channel, Yone."

"It may be," he said quietly, "that the Tectonis 'wrong' in this immediate situation, but what happens whenwe get back and Evelyn Jeter starts screaming rape or seduction? The basis of the Sime/Gen Union is trust; trust in the channelsand our absolute adherence to the Principles of Action. Maybe,just this once, it wouldn't matter. But suppose all the channels,everywhere, started interpreting the Principles for their ownconvenience? The Union would crumble, and we'd be back to theChaos again where Simes killed Gens for selyn and Gens tried toexterminate Simes."

"I've heard all that before," she said, rising to facehim. "Tell me, Yone, how can right lead to evil? Is thatthe kind of universe you live in? A place where wrong leads togood and right leads to evil?"

"No. The Principles lead to right action, and that resultsin good, in survival for the whole human race."

"But I'm not the whole human race. And I want to survive. So do you. So does she. How long are you going to wait beforeyou do what you know is right, until these rules which you knoware wrong lead us all to disaster?"

"The rules by which I guide myself are not wrong."

She sighed. "OK, I promised not to prove the Tecton wrong. Look. This time you weren't paying attention and led us up undera falling tree. Next time you'll walk us off a cliff, or leadus into an ambush because you didn't notice a tribe of nativesgetting set to roll boulders down on us. Your condition is dangerousto the group, so by Tecton standards it's unethical for you toallow it to continue no matter what the price to any one individual."

"The infringement of the sovereignty of any individual byany channel imperils a much larger group than this one. It maybe hard on us, but we must do it for all humanity."

"Damn the ... ! No, all right, this way. You know the CD'sare no joke for a channel, especially a Farris. How long do youthink it's going to be before entran sets in, too? I've seenthose seizures actually break bones, and you know what that wouldmean out here! Entran and the CD's together! There's just somuch the human body can take before it starts to give up and whetheryou like it or not, you're only human and you can't carry thewhole human race on your back, at least not if you don't takecare of yourself!"

There were tears on her cheeks glinting in the reflected firelight. "Shall I describe what a case of severe multiple deprivationlooks like? Yone, I used to work on the frontier – I've seenit, and I never want to see it again. It starts with a nigglinglittle infection, a kidney or bladder infection, nothing serious. Fever and chills, then pneumonia. Finally, the liver startsto give out, and from there it's straight downhill to the grave,a very messy grave, Yone Farris!"

"It's only Coital Deprivation, nothing so bad as all that!"

"I'm giving you my professional diagnosis. Acute multipledeprivation with an Imprintation complicating matters. If I haveto, I'll take you by the ear and march you over there and makeyou explain it to her sensibly!"

"It's not that simple, I told you. She's a minor!"

Cheryl sighed heavily, deflated but not defeated, weary but notvanquished. "It's almost dawn. This is getting us nowhere." She took off the Tecton ring and stowed it on the chain, tuckingit beneath her clothing. "You better get a few hours' sleep. Maybe your head will be clearer in the morning. I certainlyhope so, because if you don't do something for yourself soon,I'm going to do it for you."

She paused at the tent flap, and Livya, recalling her resolveto slip away unnoticed, scurried around behind the boulder wherethe mass of rock would insulate Yone from her, As she moved, sheheard muttered goodnights from the tent, and then footsteps, afew words with a perimeter guard, and silence.

She had wanted facts, and now she had them in blinding abundance. The Channel's Exemption was not, as her mother said, legalizedprostitution.

If she was wrong, then she'd have to learn to live with it. Butwhatever happened. Yone Farris wasn't a man she could abandon.

She started around the boulder toward the tent door.

Half way there, Yone met her, and the graying dawn revealed hisgentle smile, peaceful at last. "Livya, I've got to talkto you."

"I know. I was listening to you and Cheryl in there allnight."

"Yes, I felt you leaving. I couldn't let you go."

He considered her intently but didn't reach out toward her yet. She said, "What are you going to do?"

"We are going to do a lot of things, Livya. But first, it'stime we had a little talk about what it means to be grown up enoughto love."

END