"I'm a reporter, by profession."
"Which network?"
"No network. _Newzines._ There are still a few in print, you know."
"I know. But I can't afford them."
"There aren't many left who can, or who even feel the need of reading
them. Nevertheless, mavericks like myself still cling to the ancient
and honorable practices of the Fourth Estate. One of which is
ferreting out the inside story, the news behind the news."
"Then you're not working for the Naturalists."
"Of course I am. I'm working for them and for everybody else who has
an interest in learning the truth." Ritchie paused. "By the way, you
keep using that term as if it were some kind of dirty word. Just what
does it mean? What _is_ a Naturalist, in your book?"
"Why, a radical thinker, of course. An opponent of government
policies, of progress. One who believes we're running out of living
space, using up the last of our natural resources."
"What do you suppose motivates Naturalists, really?"
"Well, they can't stand the pressures of daily living, or the
prospects of a future when we'll be still more hemmed in."
Ritchie nodded. "Any more than you could, a few months ago, when you
tried to commit suicide. Wouldn't you say that _you_ were thinking
like a Naturalist then?"