He went on to imagine her walking down through the gardens and along the flower-scented paths with some man she’d never even seen before, a love choice selected for her by a mindless machine. The thoughts made him almost physically ill and sharply increased his bitterness. That night at the entertainment Deva had reassuring news. She had been granted permission to take Rick on extensive tours of the city to acquaint him with the unfamiliar civilization he would soon be expected to embrace as his own. This orientation preliminary was acceptable as part of their courtship period, since he was an Agro. “But we’ll have to wait another four or five days,” Deva said. “They want us to become better acquainted in the gardens where there are not too many other distractions. So just be patient,” she said as he frowned wryly. “It won’t embitter you for life to endure my company for a few extra days!” She’s right, he thought with a grin as he tucked her arm in his. She was going to be real easy to get along with. The show was not too bad, he guessed. He’d never seen anything quite like it, but it wouldn’t matter if he never repeated the experience, either. His mind refused to remain passive. It lunged about, from considerations of his vague and shadowy future to Lonestar and Barie, and then back to the strange little Mech girl sitting beside him. He wondered what would become of her when once they were safely away into the Outlander country. Had she some secret plan of her own? During the succeeding days they spent most of their time together discussing with each other their past lives in the widely divergent worlds from which they had come. They spent long, idle hours in the gardens or at the music bar. They ate together and Deva read to Rick poems and stories that opened up a new world of beauty to him. The time passed more quickly than he could have dreamed. Then on the fifth day Deva said, “Tomorrow we can take a trip through the city. I don’t suppose I’ll need a leash--” He laughed and drew her to him and kissed her soundly as had become their custom at parting--solely to impress the watchers who recorded all their actions. “I told you to behave!” Deva said, how angrily he could only guess. “Tomorrow,” Rick promised. VI It was almost like being let out of jail. The administrator, Bernard Jackson, gave them a few brief instructions and showed them the way out of the building. “Just a kind of once-over-lightly today,” Deva said. “We’ll just go along the streets and through some of the shops to give you an idea of what things are like here.” “I’d be a lot more interested in seeing--” “Hush! General sightseeing is _expected_ of us. Do you want to ruin everything?”