Into the Slave Nebula by John Brunner

which planetary entry stamps appeared, and his eyes unfocused as he looked beyond the printed name to the reality it implied.
    Newholme. A nice substantial name, that. Without the romantic ring of Creew ’n Dith or Lygos. But different from the flat, placid, plopping sound
Earth
.
    The decision hardened, and he spent a brief moment wondering in bewilderment whether this was whatDordy had been obliquely referring to yesterday, and how a mere android could foresee something in the mind of a man before the man himself was aware of it.
    That, though, was of no consequence. He was going to Newholme.

CHAPTER VI
    A HEADY EXCITEMENT seized him, tempered with not a little anxiety. But also there was impatience, to the point where he felt every second he spent after making up his mind was the waste of a chance to leave Earth. He leapt from the bed shouting for service, telling the robot which answered his call to bring him breakfast and fetch Dordy to his suite.
    Showered and dressed faster than ever before in his life, he was gobbling down a hasty meal when the android acting-manager finally entered, looking extremely tired.
    “You sent for me, Mr. Horn? I’m sorry to have taken so long, but during carnival this place is—well …” A shrug completed the apology.
    “Never mind,” Horn said out of a full mouth. “I just wanted to let you know I’m checking out.”
    Dordy nodded. “You’ve found more congenial accommodation for the rest of carnival? With friends, perhaps? Or
a
friend?”
    “I’m sick of carnival!” Horn gave the words a measured emphasis. “I’m sick of the people who take part. I’m sick of the things they do. I’m getting the hell out.”
    “Yes, sir. It’s still carnival week for everyone else, though.”
    Horn froze for an instant as the implication sank in. Of course! It would be pretty nearly impossible to go anywhere for the remaining six days. People weren’t expected to want to travel during this season—they were supposed to be too busy enjoying themselves. Then he relaxed. There’d be a way of getting around that difficulty.There was always some way of getting around any difficulty.
    “Never mind that for the moment! Sit down. I thought you might be interested to hear what made up my mind for me.”
    With an expression of polite interest Dordy complied, and Horn went on, “Someone challenged me to a duel just before dawn. I killed him.”
    “As though there hadn’t been enough deaths already,” Dordy said, his pose of civility slipping. He tried and failed to master a yawn. Deliberately appearing to miss the point, Horn shook his head.
    “Not for him apparently. It was Coolin, the lawforce superintendent.”
    The blue skin above Dordy’s right eye wrinkled as he raised the eyebrow. “Really! Well, that explains quite a lot of things.”
    “Does it for you? It leaves me completely in the dark,” Horn said in an aggrieved tone. “What exactly does this news—ah—clarify for you?”
    “I’m sorry, sir.” Dordy palmed his eyes and rubbed the skin of his temples, as though stretching it. “I’m very tired, and it would be dreadfully complicated to try and explain everything right now.” He dropped his hands. “But I ought at least to give you a warning. It was bad luck for you to get mixed up in the murder of Lars Talibrand. If you’d behaved like an average citizen—given your testimony and shown impatience to get on with the fun of carnival—you’d probably not have been bothered again. By doing more than this minimal civic duty, you’ve probably marked yourself out as a potential danger to a lot of very dangerous people.”
    “But—but this sounds like a historical melodrama!” Horn objected.
    “Isn’t it dramatic that a man should have been hounded from planet to planet, driven out of the regions wherehis reputation protected him to Earth where his immunity no longer held good—and killed?”
    “That’s not just something you worked out from looking at