I laughed. I was too surprised even to get mad. «No.»

«Surely you do not intend to enter the Core?»

«No. Look, why do you —»

«Then by the conditions of our contract, you forfeit.»

«Wrong again. I'll take pictures of these instruments. When a court sees the readings on the radiation meter and the blue blur in the mass indicator, they'll know something's wrong with them.»

«Nonsense. Under evidence drugs you will explain the readings.»

«Sure. And the court will know you tried to get me to go right to the center of that holocaust. You know what they'll say to that?»

«But how can a court of law find against a recorded contract?»

«Me point is they'll want to. Maybe they'll decide that we're both lying and the instruments really did go haywire. Maybe they'll find a way to say the contract was illegal. But they'll find against you. Want to make a side bet?»

«No. You have won. Come back.»

VI.

The Core was a lovely multicolored jewel when it disappeared below the lens of the galaxy. I'd have liked to visit it someday, but there aren't any time machines.

I'd penetrated nearly to the Core in something like a month. I took my time coming home, going straight up along galactic north and flying above the lens where there were no stars to bother me, and still made it in two. All the way I wondered why the puppeteer had tried to cheat me at the last. Long Shot's publicity would have been better than ever, yet the regional president had been willing to throw it away just to leave me broke. I couldn't ask why, because nobody was answering my hyperphone. Nothing I knew about puppeteers could tell me. I felt persecuted.