"Oh, all right. Sorry." I controlled myself and grinned. "I guess this
whole thing has been just a little too much for me. Maybe my E.A.C.'s
even gone down."
"That might be your chance then."
"How do you mean?"
"If you could get to the top man in Opsych and demonstrate that your
number has inadvertently changed your E.A.C., he might be able to
justify a change."
"By the State, he might!" I punched my palm. "Only how do I get to him?"
"I can find his location on the cyb here. Center One, the capital, for
a guess. You'll have to get a travel permit to go there, of course.
Just a moment."
She worked at the machine again, trying it on general data. The printed
slip came out a moment later and she read it to me. Chief, Opsych, was
in the capital all right. It didn't give the exact location of his
office, but it did tell how to find the underground bay in Center One
containing the Opsych offices.
We headed back through the passageway then and she kept well ahead of
me. I couldn't keep my eyes from her walk, from the way she walked with
everything below her shoulders. My blood was pounding at my temples
again.
I tried to keep the conversation going. "Do you think it'll be hard to
get a travel permit?"
"Not impossible. My guess is that you'll be at Travbur all day
tomorrow, maybe even the next day. But you ought to be able to swing it
if you hold out long enough."
I sighed. "I know. It's that way everywhere in Northem. Our motto ought
to be, 'Why make it difficult when with just a little more effort you
can make it impossible?'"
* * * * *
She started to laugh, and then, as she emerged from the passageway into
the big circular room, she cut her laugh short.
A second later, as I came along, I saw why.
There were two Deacons by the central desk. They were burly and had
that hard, pinched-face look and wore the usual black belts. Electric
clubs hung from the belts. Spidery looking pistols were at their sides.
I didn't know whether these two had heard my crack or not. I know they
kept looking at me.
Lara and I crossed the room silently, she back to her desk, I to the
exit door. The Deacons' remote, disapproving eyes swung in azimuth,
tracking us.
I walked out and wanted to turn and smile at Lara, and get into my
smile something of the hope that someday, somewhere, I'd see her
again--but of course I didn't dare.