``A thousand pardons,'' said Hal. ``But I have just thought of one thing. I am married.''

``No problem at all,'' said Macneff. ``There will be no women aboard the Gabriel. And, if a man is married, he will automatically be given a divorce.''

Hal gasped, and he said, ``A divorce?''

Macneff raised his hands apologetically and said, ``You are horrified, of course. But, from our reading of the Western Talmud, we Urielites believe that the Forerunner, knowing this situation would arise, made reference to and provision for divorce. It's inevitable in this case, for the couple will be separated for, at the least, forty years. Naturally, he couched the provision in obscure language. In his great and glorious wisdom, he knew that our enemies the Israelites must not be able to read therein what we planned.''

``I volunteer,'' said Hal. ``Tell me more, Sandalphon.''

Six months later, Hal Yarrow stood in the observation dome of the Gabriel and watched the ball of Earth dwindle above him. It was night on this hemisphere, but the light blazed from the megalopolises of Australia, Japan, China, Southeast Asia, India, Siberia. Hal, the linguist, saw the glittering discs and necklaces in terms of the languages spoken therein. Australia, the Philippine Islands, Japan, and northern China were inhabited by those members of the Haijac Union that spoke American.

Southern China, all of southeast Asia, southern India and Ceylon, these states of the Malay Federation spoke Bazaar.