"Wrong. It is a funny factor in human relationship. Something that makes no sense. When people were paying me three thousand dollars an hour for operations, I could experiment without fear. Some died, some regained their health under my ministrations. But when I experimented on charity patients, I could not experiment because of the 'Protection' given the poor. The masses were not to be guinea pigs. Ha!" laughed Murdoch, "only the rich are permitted to be subjects of an experiment. Touch not the poor, who offer nothing. Experiment upon those of intellect, wealth, fame, or anything that sets them above the mob. Yes, even genius came under my knife. But I couldn't give a poor man a fifty-fifty chance at his life, when the chances of his life were less than one in ten. From a brilliant man, operating under fifty-fifty chances for life, I became an inhuman monster that cut without fear. I was imprisoned, and later escaped with some friends." "And that's when you stole the _Hippocrates_ and decided that the solar system should pay you revenge-money?" "I would have done better if I had not made that one mistake. I forgot that in the years of imprisonment, I fell behind in scientific knowledge. I know now that no one can establish anything at all without technical minds behind him." Kingman's lips curled. "I wouldn't agree to that." "You should. Your last defeat at the hands of the technicians you scorn should have taught you a lesson. If you had been sharp, you would have outguessed them; outengineered them. They, Kingman, were not afraid to rip into their detector to see what made it tick." "But I had only the one--" "They knew one simple thing about the universe. That rule is that if anything works once, it may be made to work again." He held up his hand as Kingman started to speak. "You'll bring all sorts of cases to hand and try to disprove me. You can't. Oh, you couldn't cause a quick return of the diplodocus, or re-enact the founding of the solar government, or even reburn a ton of coal. But there is other carbon, there will be other governmental introductions and reforms, and there may some day be the rebirth of the dinosaur--on some planet there may be carboniferous ages now. Any phenomena that is a true phenomena--and your detector was definite, not a misinterpretation of effect--can be repeated. But, Kingman, we'll not be outengineered again." "That I do believe." * * * * * "And so we will have our revenge on Interplanetary Communications and upon the system itself." "We're heading home now?"