The small Electro-Clarification Laboratory was, for some reason, maintained at a temperature somewhat lower than normal and Dors Venabili wondered idly why that might be. She sat quietly, waiting for the one occupant of the lab to finish whatever it was she was doing.
    Dors eyed the woman carefully. Slim, with a long face. Not exactly attractive, with her thin lips and receding¹ jawline, but a look of intelligence shone in her dark brown eyes. The glowing nameplate on her desk said: CINDA MONAY.
    She turned to Dors at last and said, "My apologies, Dr. Venabili, but there are some procedures that can't be interrupted even for the wife of the director."
    "I would have been disappointed in you if you had neglected the procedure on my behalf. I have been told some excellent things about you."
    "That's always nice to hear. Who's been praising me?"
    "Quite a few," said Dors. "I gather that you are one of the most prominent nonmathematicians in the Project."
    Monay winced². "There's a certain tendency to divide the rest of us from the aristocracy of mathematics. My own feeling is that, if I'm prominent, then I'm a prominent member of the Project. It makes no difference that I'm a nonmathematician."
    "That certainly sounds reasonable to me. -How long have you been with the Project?"
    "Two and a half years. Before that I was a graduate student in radiational physics at Streeling and, while I was doing that, I served a couple of years with the Project as an intern³."
    "You've done well at the Project, I understand."
    "I've been promoted twice, Dr. Venabili."
    "Have you encountered any difficulties here, Dr. Monay? -Whatever you say will be held confidential⁴."
    "The work is difficult, of course, but if you mean, have I run into any social difficulties, the answer is no. At least not any more than one would expect in any large and complex project, I imagine."
    "And by that you mean?"
    "Occasional

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