"That's what I said. You didn't think you'd be awake and able to move about now if the ship were headed out, did you? You'd be under deep-sleep for two weeks. Use your head."
He gaped at her. His thinking began tumbling down around his ears, and he grasped at it wildly. "But it's going out—"
"Oh, yes. It's going out—from Titan. With a full load. Men and women aboard, voluntarily aboard. Men and women just like you."
"Then it is true. We grow old and start to die, and they take us to the Center and make us new again, so we can be shanghaied aboard ships and driven out to the stars, whether we like it or not. What's the matter—is the government afraid of us? Or is it just greedy to hand the people Centauri on a silver platter?"
"I said you could get off on Titan if you want," the girl snapped.
"Sure," he sneered. "I believe you. Anything you say now, I believe it. Go ahead, say something more. Say something about the rest of the suckers that are coming through now, the ones who think they can have a new life without a price-tag on it. How about them? Can they get off on Titan too?"
"You've got it wrong, Griffin," the girl said sadly. "You've got it backwards. Right facts, wrong conclusion. Your cause and effect are backwards."
"I don't get you." Griffin's voice was leaden.
"You weren't made new again so you could be placed on this ship. You were placed on this ship because you'd been made new again."
Griffin stared at her. "You mean because I'm different now? Because there's something wrong with me?"