"I'll bet. Respect for the home, sanctity of marriage, sexual morality, law and order—you never saw anything like that back home, did you gangster?" He looked very smug.
Orsino clenched his teeth. "Somebody's been telling you a pack of lies," he said. "There's just as much home and family life and morality and order back in Syndic Territory as there is here. And probably a lot more."
"Bull. I've seen intelligence reports; I know how you people live. Are you telling me you don't have sexual promiscuity? Polygamy? Polyandry? Open gambling? Uncontrolled liquor trade? Corruption and shakedowns?"
Orsino squinted along the barrel of the gun into the rain. "Look," he said, "take me as an average young man from Syndic Territory. I know maybe a hundred people. I know just three women and two men who are what you'd call promiscuous. I know one family with two wives and one husband. I don't really know any people personally who go in for polyandry, but I've met three casually. And the rest are ordinary middle-aged couples."
"Ah-hah! Middle-aged! Do you mean to tell me you're just leaving out anybody under middle age when you talk about morality?"
"Naturally," Charles said, baffled. "Wouldn't you?"
The only answer was a snort.
"What are bupers?" Charles asked.
"Bu-Pers," the jaygee said distinctly. "Bureau of Personnel, North American Navy."
"What do you do there?"