It was a beautiful day, even for Miami. In the east, the morning sun shone brightly through the hard, transparent pressure glass that covered the street, making the smooth, resilient surface of the street itself glow with warm light. Overhead, Patrolman Flanders could see the aircars in their incessant motion--apparently random, unless one knew what the traffic pattern was and how to look for it. It was Patrolman Flanders' immediate ambition to be promoted to traffic patrol, so that he could be in an aircar above the city instead of watching pedestrians down here on the streets. "Morning, Fred," he said to his brother officer. "How'd the night go?" "Hi, Johnny. Pretty good. Not much excitement." He looked at his wristwatch. "You're a couple minutes early yet." "Yeah. The baby started singing for his breakfast at a God-awful hour. Harriet woke up to feed him, which woke me up, so here I am. If you want to give me the call button, I'll take over. You can go get yourself a cup of coffee." "I'm up to here with coffee," Pilsudski said, indicating a point just below his left ear. "I'll have a beer instead." He touched a switch at his belt and said: "Area 37 HQ, this is 13392 Pilsudski." A voice in his helmet phones said: "37 HQ, go ahead, Pilsudski." "Time: 0758 hours. I am being relieved by 14278 Flanders." "Right. Go ahead." Pilsudski took off the light, strong helmet, reached inside it, opened a small sliding panel, and took out an object the size and shape of an aspirin tablet--the sealed unit that permitted him to understand the conversation over the police wave band. Without it, the police calls would have been gibberish. Flanders accepted the little gadget from the other officer and inserted it in his own helmet. Then he replaced the helmet on his head. "Area 37 HQ, this is 14278 Flanders. I am relieving 13392 Pilsudski." "37 HQ," said the voice in his ears. "Okay, Flanders. Transfer recorded." Police Patrolman John Flanders, Badge Number 14278, was now officially on duty. He looked up into the sky. "Now there's the place to be on a day like this, Fred. Traffic patrol." "Not me," said Pilsudski. "Too damn dull. I was on it for six months. Damn near drove me nuts. Nobody to talk to but another cop--same cop, day after day. He was a nice guy, don't get me wrong, but Christ! Nothin' to do but watch for people breakin' traffic pattern. Can't even pull over to the side and watch the traffic go by. It's dull, I'm tellin' you, Johnny. I asked for a transfer back to a beat so's I could see some people again." "Maybe," said Flanders. "I'd still like to try it." "Ever'body to their own taste, I guess. Mitchell and Warber were in luck last night, though. Excitement." He sounded as though he meant the word to be sarcastic. "What happened?" Flanders asked.