Stranger in a Strange Land

was neither a sweat shop nor a whore house, but a home . . . and, as such, it combined anarchy and tyranny without a trace of democracy, as in any well-run family, i.e., that they were utterly on their own except where I saw fit to give orders, which orders were not subject to vote or debate. My tyranny has never extended to their love life, if any. All the kids who live here have always chosen to keep their private matters reasonably private. At least-" Jubal smiled ruefully. "-until the Martian influence caused things to get a little out of hand . . . which includes you, too, my water brother. But Duke and Larry have been more restrained, in one sense or the other. Perhaps they have been dragging the gals behind every bush. If so, I haven't seen it-and there have been no screams."
                Ben thought of adding a little to Jubal's store of facts, decided against it. "Then you think it's Mike."
                Jubal scowled. "Yep, I think it's Mike. That part's all right-I told you the girls were smugly happy . . . and I'm not broke plus the fact that I could bleed Mike for any amount without telling the girls. Their babies won't lack. But, Ben, I'm troubled about Mike himself. Very."
                "So am I, Jubal."
                "And about Jill, too. I should have named Jill."
                "Uh ... Jubal, Jill isn't the problem-other than for me, personally. And that's my hard luck, I hold no grudge. It's Mike."
                "Damn it, why can't the boy come home and quit this obscene pulpit pounding?"
                "Mmm ... Jubal, that's not quite what he's doing." Ben added, "I've just come from there."
                "Huh? Why didn't you say so?"
                Ben sighed. "First you wanted to talk art, then you wanted to sing the blues, then you wanted to gossip. What chance have I had?"
                "Uh ... conceded. You have the floor."
                "I was coming back from covering the Cape Town conference; I squeezed out a day and visited them. What I saw worried the hell out of me-so much so that I stopped just long enough in Washington to get a few columns ahead, then came straight here. Jubal, couldn't you rig it with Douglas to shut off the faucet and close down this operation?"
                Jubal shook his head. "In the first place, I wouldn't. What Mike does with his life is his business."
                "You would if you had seen what I saw."
                "Not I! But in the second place I can't. Nor can Douglas."
                "Jubal, you know quite well that Mike would accept any decision you made about his money. He probably wouldn't even understand it-and he certainly wouldn't question it."
                "Ah, but he would understand it! Ben, recently Mike made his will, drew it up himself-no attorney-and sent it to me to criticize. Ben, it was one of the shrewdest legal documents I've ever seen. He recognized that he had more wealth than his heirs could possibly need-so he used half his money to guard the other half . . . rigged it so that anyone who contests the will does so to his own great disadvantage. It is a very cynical document in that respect and is booby-trapped not only against possible heirsclaimants of his legal parents and his natural parents-he knows he's a bastard, though I don't know how he found out-but also the same with respect to every member of the Envoy's company . . . he provided a generous way to settle Out of court with any possible unknown heir having a good prima-facie claim-and rigged it so that they would almost have to overthrow the government to go into court and break his will . . . and the will also showed that he knew exactly each stock, bond, security, and asset he owned. I couldn't find anything to criticize in it." (-including, Jubal thought, his provision for you, my brother!) "Then he went to the trouble of depositing holographic originals in several places . . . and Fair-Witness copies in half a dozen reliable brains. Don't tell me that I could rig his money without his understanding what I had done!"
                Ben looked morose. "I wish you could."
                "I don't. But that was just the starter. It wouldn't help if we could. Mike hasn't taken a dollar out of his drawing account for almOst a year. I know, because Douglas called me to ask if I thought the major