"On paper, yes; with my decisions subject to appeal and/or review when we get back to Base. In practice, I didn't expect to have to make any very gravid rulings." "I never thought you'd have to, either, but Belle fed me one with a bone in it, so...." "Just a minute. How official do you want it? Full formal, screens down and recorded?" "Not unless we have to. Let's explore it first. As of right now, are we under the Code or not?" "Of course we are." "Not necessarily," Belle put in, sharply. "Not slavishly to the letter. We're so far away and our chance of getting back is so slight that it should be interpreted in the light of common sense." * * * Garlock stared at Belle and she stared back, her eyes as clear and innocent as a baby's. "The Code is neither long enough nor complicated enough to require interpretation," Garlock stated, finally. "It either applies in full and exactly or not at all. My ruling is that the Code applies, strictly, until I declare the state of Ultimate Contingency. Are you ready, Belle, to abandon the project, find an uninhabited Tellurian world, and begin to populate it?" "Well, not quite, perhaps." "Yes or no, please." "No." "We are under the Code, then. Go ahead, Jim." "I broke pairing with Belle and she refused to confirm." "Certainly I refused. He had no reason to break with me." "I had plenty of reason!" James snapped. "I'm fed up to here--" he drew his right forefinger across his forehead, "--with making so-called love to a woman who can never think of anything except cutting another man's throat. She's a heartless conniver." "You both know that reasons are unnecessary and are not discussed in public," Garlock said, flatly. "Now as to confirmation of a break. In simple pairing there is no marriage, no registration, no declaration of intent or of permanence. Thus, legally or logically, there is no obligation. Morally, however, there is always some obligation. Hence, as a matter of urbanity, in cases where no injury exists except as concerns chastity, the Code calls for agreement without rancor. If either party persists in refusal to confirm, and cannot show injury, that party's behavior is declared inurbane. Confirmation is declared and the offending party is ignored." "Just how would you go about ignoring Prime Operator Belle Bellamy?" "You've got a point there, Jim. However, she hasn't persisted very long in her refusal. As a matter of information, Belle, why did you take Jim in the first place?" "I didn't." She shrugged her shoulders. "It was pure chance. You saw me flip the tenth-piece." "Am I to ignore the fact that you are one of the best telekineticists living?" "I don't _have_ to control things unless I want to!" She stamped her foot. "Can't you conceive of me flipping a coin honestly?"