We Nillys know about hate and about violence. We know too that where there is hate there is violence, and where there is violence there is death.
During sleep time on the seventy-ninth day Barbara Stoneman, awakened by a strange sound, sat up in the bed of her compartment to find a man in a red mask in her room. Her cries brought neighbors into the corridor. The flight of the man was witnessed by many, and several men tried to stop him. But the intruder was light on his feet and fast. He escaped.
The Quadrant Council confronted the captain, demanding weapons.
"Are you out of your minds?" Branson exclaimed.
Tom Tilbury, Fourth Quadrant leader, said, "We want to set up a police force, Captain. We want stunners."
"There's no law against it," Branson said, "but it's a rule of mine that no weapons are to be issued en route."
"If we had had a gun, we'd have got Red Mask," Tilbury said.
"And I might have a murder on my conscience."
Tilbury said, "We've also thought of that. Suppose you supply us with half-power stunners? That way we can stun but not kill."