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“I and the other gentlemen here represent the Colonization Board. We’ve interceded with the local authorities in order to offer you a choice. We would like to ship you out to the colony planets. Naturally, we will pay you the standard emigration bonus of five hundred dollars. The colonists need wives; they offer you—security.”

He stressed the word slightly.

“Now, of course, if you don’t prefer the colony planets, you can stay behind and face the penalties of ten years in jail and a fine of ten thousand dollars.”

Suzanne felt that her lower jaw needed support. Ten thousand dollars and ten years! And in either case she’d lose the apartment she had worked so hard for, her symbol of security.

“Well, what do you say?” There was a dead silence. The young man from the Colonization Board turned to Suzanne. “How about you, Miss Carstens?”

She smiled sickly and nodded her head. “I love to travel!” she said.

It didn’t sound at all witty even to herself.

VI

The transfer shed was a vast and somber terminal, cold and impersonal. There was a cleared space at the center of the floor where the officials had desks and tables and rows of filing cabinets and busily clicking machinery. The women sat huddled around the edges of the shed, waiting to be called to the center and assigned to any of the various colony planets.