"Nothing, Max. Nothing against it and nothing for it. What I'm for is people. The Syndic is people. You're people. Slug 'em if you want and they'll have a chance to slug you back. Maybe you'll pull down the Syndic like Samson in the temple; more likely it'll crush you. But you'll be _doing_ something about it. That's the great thing. That's the thing people have to learn--or they wind up in Riveredge." "You're crazy." "I told you I was, or I wouldn't be here." The man came at sunset. He was short and pudgy, with a halo of wispy hair and the coldest, grimmest eyes that Wyman had ever seen. He shook hands with Wyman, and the young man noted simultaneously a sharp pain in his finger and that the stranger wore an elaborate gold ring. Then the world got hazy and confused. He had a sense that he was being asked questions, that he was answering them, that it went on for hours and hours. When things quite suddenly came into focus again, the pudgy man was saying: "I can introduce myself now. Commander Grinnel, of the North American Navy. My assignment is recruiting. The preliminary examination has satisfied me that you are no plant and would be a desirable citizen of the N. A. Government. I invite you to join us." "What would I do?" Wyman asked steadily. "That depends on your aptitudes. What do you think you would like to do?" Wyman said: "Kill me some Syndics." The commander stared at him with those cold eyes. He said at last: "It can probably be arranged. Come with me." * * * * * They went by train to Cape Cod. At midnight on January 15th, the commander and Wyman left their hotel room and strolled about the streets. The commander taped small packets to the four legs of the microwave relay tower that connected Cape Cod with the Continental Press common carrier circuits and taped other packets to the police station's motor pool gate. At 1:00 A.M., the tower exploded and the motor pool gate fused into an impassible puddle of blue-hot molten metal. Simultaneously, fifty men in turtle-neck sweaters and caps appeared from nowhere on Center Street. Half of them barricaded the street, firing on citizens and cops who came too close. The others systematically looted every store between the barricade and the beach. Blinking a flashlight in code, the commander approached the deadline unmolested and was let through with Wyman at his heels. The goods, the raiders, the commander and Wyman were aboard a submarine by 2:35 and under way ten minutes later. After Commander Grinnel had exchanged congratulations with the sub commander, he presented Wyman. "A recruit. Normally I wouldn't have bothered, but he had a rather special motivation. He could be very useful." The sub commander studied Wyman impersonally. "If he's not a plant." "I've used my ring. If you want to get it over with, we can test him and swear him in now."