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“Documentaries always get low ratings,” the girl said. “And you can’t really blame the public—documentaries are dull. Myself, I like a love interest.” Her eyes rested lingeringly on Clarey’s.

They must think I’m a fool, Clarey thought; yet why would they bother to fool me? “But I am given to understand,” he said to Spano, “even by the tri-dis, that an intelligence agent needs special training, special qualifications.”

“In this case, the special qualifications outweigh the training. And you have the qualifications we need for Damorlan.”

“According to the machines, all I’m qualified for is human filing cabinet. Is that what you want?”

Spano was growing impatient. “Look, Clarey, the machines have decided that you are not a Musician. Do you want to remain a Sub-Archivist for the rest of your days or will you take this other road? Once you’re on a U-E level, you can fight the machines; tape your own music if you like.”

Clarey said nothing, but his initial hostility was ebbing slowly away.

“I wanted to be a writer,” Spano said. “The machines said no. So I became a soldier, rose to the top. Now—this is in strictest confidence—I write most of the episodes of Sentries of the Sky myself. There’s always another route for the man with guts and vision, and, above all, faith. Why don’t we continue the discussion over lunch?”