"Sure," Dodd said. "Sure I do. So do all of us." "Not me," Albin said instantly. "Not me, brother. I get my food and my clothing and my shelter, just like good old Marx, I guess, says I should. I'm a trainer for the Alberts, supportive work in the refining process, and some day I'll be a master trainer and get a little more pay, a little more status, you know?" He grinned and sat straight. "What the hell," he said "It's a job. It pays my way. And there's enough leisure time for fun--and when I say fun I don't mean 3D tapes, Dodd. I really don't." "But you--" "Look," Albin said. "That's what's wrong with you, kid. You talk as if we all had nothing to do but work and watch tapes. What you need is a little education--a little real education--and I'm the one to give it to you." Dodd opened his eyes. They looked very large and flat, like the eyes of a jungle animal. "I don't need education," he said. "And I don't need hobbies. I need to get off this planet, that's all. I need to stop working with the Alberts. I need to stop being a master and start being a man again." Albin sighed. "Slavery," he said. "You think of slavery and it all rises up in front of you--Greece, India, China, Rome, England, the United States--all the past before the Confederation, all the different slaves." He grinned again. "You think it's terrible, don't you?" "It is terrible," Dodd said. "It's--they're people, just like us. They have a right to their own lives." "Sure they do," Albin said. "They have the right to--oh, to starve and die in that forest out there, for instance. And work out a lot of primitive rituals, and go through all the Stone Age motions for thousands of years until they develop civilization like you and me. Instead of being kept nice and warm and comfortable and taken care of, and taught things, by the evil old bastards like--well, like you and me again. Right?" "They have rights," Dodd said stubbornly. "They have rights of their own." "Sure they do," Albin agreed with great cheerfulness. "How'd you like it if they got some of them? Dodd, maybe you'd like to see them starve? Because it's going to be a long, long time before they develop anything like a solid civilization, kiddo. And in the meantime a lot of them are going to die of things we can prevent. Right? And how'd you like that, Dodd? How would you like that?" Dodd hesitated. "We ought to help them," he muttered. "Well," Albin said cheerfully, "that's what we are doing. Keeping them alive, for instance. And teaching them." "Teaching," Dodd said. Again his voice had the faintly mocking sound of an echo. "And what are we teaching them? Push this button for us. Watch this process for us. If anything changes push this button. Dig here. Carry there." He paused. "Wonderful--for us. But what good does it do them?" "We've got to live, too," Albin said. Dodd stared. "At their expense?"