Jeb turned to the exit behind him and crawled painfully for twenty feet, then got up and began running. He ran straight into a brawny body at the turn of the corridor. The next thing he knew, he was on his back and ruthless hands were banging his head against the floor. The siren of a golden-clad policeman cut the air and magically the hands fell away, leaving Jeb sprawling and groggy. After a moment, he was able to focus his eyes. The policeman stared down at him, fists authoritatively on his hips. "Well, I came just in time, eh?" said the cop. "Saved your neck." Bong! went the Monitex. Jeb said hastily, "It's all right, Officer. It's on the house." "It had damn well better be," growled the policeman. "If you know what's good for you--" Bong! went the Monitex. "Go on, get outa here before I run ya in," yelled the officer. Bong! went the Monitex. * * * * * "Have a good time, dear," Jeb called after Laurie as she happily took off into space from their level, clutching her purse, which was jammed with enough credits to keep her brimful of fun for two whole months at the Pleasure Palace. "Don't you worry about that," said Laurie over her shoulder. Jeb went back to his apartment. He stretched out on the couch, contentment welling up in him. He opened the footstool nearby and, within its archaic shape, slid open the cunningly concealed refrigerator. He took out a plastic cone of beer. "A-ah!" sighed Jeb. How wonderful to be alone, free of Laurie's nagging for two whole months! A superb reward for his hard work. How clever of the government to have passed such a regulation! After a while, like wax melting, his grin drooped away. It certainly was quiet, wasn't it? Within half an hour, he was wild and didn't know why. Jittering, he dialed his televisor and the man from Marriage Relations appeared on the screen. He glared at Jeb and cautiously looked around for the Monitex until he spotted it. "Shut that thing off or no advice," snapped the man. "It's _off_! Look, I don't know what's bothering me. Can I have special permission to join my wife on her vacation? Or get her back here?" "Afraid not," said the man. "The principle of working so one's wife can have a vacation has been established through the centuries; the government merely put it into law. And as for joining her or getting her back here--that's against the law." "But that's unfair!" yelled Jeb. "Oh?" The man smiled. "So! I'm glad to see how happy, how perfect is the marriage we arranged for you." He rubbed his hands in delight. "She's just barely gone and already you miss her. Wonderful." "Wonderful? I'm _suffering_!" The man from Marriage Relations glanced at a dial nearby. "Of course you are. Suffering is the ideal joy for a Masochist. Just think what a lovely two months of missing her you'll have."