Tomar shook his head, as they turned now, arm in arm, among the people wandering over the field. "No?" she asked. "Why not?" "I don't have time, Clea," he answered. "I had to sneak an hour off just to get here. I'm supposed to be back at the Military Ministry in forty minutes. Hey, do you have any bags I can carry?" Clea held up a slide rule and a notebook. "I'm traveling light. In a week I'll be back at the university for summer courses, so I didn't bring any clothes. Wait a minute. You're not going to be too busy to get to the party Dad's giving me tonight, are you?" Tomar shrugged. Clea began a word, but pushed her tongue hard against the roof of her mouth. "Tomar?" she asked after a moment. "Yes?" He had a rough voice, which, when he was sad, took on the undertones of a bear's growl. "What's happening about the war? Will there really be one?" Again he shrugged. "More soldiers, more planes, and at the Ministry there's more and more work to do. I was up before dawn this morning getting a fleet of survey planes off for a scouting trip to the mainland over the radiation barrier. If they come back this evening, I'll be busy all night with the reports and I won't be able to make the party. "Oh," said Clea. "Tomar?" "Yes, Clea Koshar?" "Oh, don't be formal with me, please. You've been in the City long enough and known me long enough. Tomar, if the war comes, do you think they'll draft prisoners from the tetron mines into the army?" "They talk about it." "Because my brother...." "I know," said Tomar. "And if a prisoner from the mines distinguished himself as a soldier, would he be freed at the end of the war? They wouldn't send him back to the mines, would they?" "The war hasn't even begun yet," said Tomar. "No one knows how it will end." "You're right," she said, "as usual." They reached the gate. "Look, Tomar, I don't want to keep you if you're busy. But you've got to promise to come see me and spend at least an afternoon before I go back to school." "If the war starts, you won't be going back to school." "Why not?" "You already have your degree in theoretical physics. Now you're only doing advanced work. Not only will they conscript prisoners from the mines, but all scientists, engineers, and mathematicians will have to lend their efforts to the cause as well." "I was afraid of that," Clea said. "You believe the war will actually come, don't you, Tomar?" "They get ready for it night and day," Tomar said. "What is there to stop it? When I was a boy on my father's farm on the mainland, there was too much work, and no food. I was a strong boy, with a strong boy's stomach. I came to the City and I took my strength to the army. Now I have work that I like. I'm not hungry. With the war, there will be work for a lot more people. Your father will be richer. Your brother may come back to you, and even the thieves and beggars in the Devil's Pot will have a chance to do some honest work."