She said, “How do you mean?” Ronny lifted and dropped a shoulder. “Well, New Delos and its theocracy, for instance, and Shangri-La and Mother and some of the other planets with extremes in government of socio-economic system. I hadn’t the vaguest idea about such places.” She made a deprecating sound. “You should see Amazonia, or, for that matter, the Orwellian State.” “_Amazonia_,” he said, “does that mean what it sounds like it does?” She made her move and settled back in satisfaction. Her pawns were in such position that his bishops were both unusable. He’d tried to play a phalanx game in the early stages of her attack, but she’d broken through, rolling up his left flank after sacrificing a castle and a knight. “Certainly does,” she said. “A fairly recently colonized planet. A few thousand feminists no men at all—moved onto it a few centuries ago. And it’s still an out and out matriarchy.” Ronny cleared his throat delicately. “Without men ... ah, how did they continue several centuries?” Tog suppressed her amusement. “Artificial insemination, at first, so I understand. They brought their, ah, supply with them. But then there were boys among the first generation on the new planet and even the Amazonians weren’t up to cold bloodedly butchering their children. So they merely enslaved them. Nice girls.” Ronny stared at her. “You mean all men are automatically slaves on this planet?” “That’s right.” Ronny made an improperly thought out move, trying to bring up a castle to reinforce his collapsing flank. He said, “UP allows _anybody_ to join evidently,” and there was disgust in his voice. “Why not?” she said mildly. “Well, there should be _some_ standards.” Tog moved quickly, dominating with a knight several squares he couldn’t afford to lose. She looked up at him, her dark eyes sparking. “The point of UP is to include all the planets. That way at least conflict can be avoided and some exchange of science, industrial techniques and cultural gains take place. And you must remember that while in power practically no socio-economic system will admit to the fact that it could possibly change for the better. But actually there is nothing less stable. Socio-economic systems are almost always in a condition of flux. Planets such as Amazonia might for a time seem so brutal in their methods as to exclude their right to civilized intercourse with the rest. However, one of these days there’ll be a change—or one of these centuries. They all change, sooner or later.” She added softly, “Even Han.” “Han?” Ronny said. Her voice was quiet. “Where I was born, Ronny. Colonized from China in the very early days. In fact, I spent my childhood in a commune.” She said musingly, “The party bureaucrats thought their system an impregnable, unchangeable one. Your move.” Ronny was fascinated. “And what happened?” He was in full retreat now, and with nowhere to go, his pieces pinned up for the slaughter. He moved a pawn to try and open up his queen.