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further.”
    “I'll remember.”
    Spence swung himself down from the high bed and followed Dr. Williams out of the room. In the small reception office he turned aside and pressed the access plate. As the partition slid open he turned to nod to the physician who still watched him closely.
    “Thank you, Dr. Williams. Goodbye.”
    “One other thing, Dr. Reston.” With a sideways glance the medic stepped close and whispered, “You don't have any enemies … do you?”
8
    I T WAS A STUPID, foolish thing to do! What were you thinking of? You imbeciles! Do you think this is some kind of game? We're not dealing with peasants this time, gentlemen. Reston is a very intelligent, sensitive man. Another mistake like the last one and he will smell the rat. Oh yes, he will. Reston is smart, and he is strong-willed. We must handle him very carefully." Hocking glared at the two quaking before him.
    “Maybe it would be better to get someone else,” suggested the younger of the two men.
    “Are you questioning my decision? Do you doubt me? Look at me, you two!” Hocking's eyes started from his skull and veins stood out on his forehead. His lips drew back in a savage sneer.
    “It was only a suggestion,” muttered the offender. “Anyway, you said he wouldn't remember a thing.”
    “Shut up!” Hocking's chair rose in the air with a faint whir of its internal mechanism. It swiveled away momentarily and when he turned again to face his henchmen his features had relaxed somewhat.
    “Do either of you have any idea how close we are to our goal? We are on the very threshold of a new epoch in human history. Think of it, gentlemen! The wealth of the universe will soon be ours—and that is only the beginning. Our power will be limitless. All mankind will bow before us. We'll be gods, gentlemen. We will control the minds of the entire human race.” Hocking's voice was a whisper. His eyes shone like hard, black beads as the chair inched closer.
    A sudden flash arced across the gap from Hocking's chair to his assistants and a tremendous cracking sound filled the room. Hocking opened his mouth and laughed as his helpers lay writhing on the floor beneath him. "Just a taste of the agony awaiting those who disappoint me. Do not disappoint me again, gentlemen.
    “Now, then. Pick yourselves up off the floor and listen to me. We have work to do.”
    HE HAD JUST REACHED the main access tube and was still pondering Dr. Williams's question about possible enemies when he heard a voice behind him.
    “They let you go, Spence?”
    He turned to see Ari hurrying up behind him. “It was nothing.”
    “It must have
been something
—you're blushing, Dr. Reston.”
    He felt the crimson flush rise to his cheeks. “How did you find out about it?” He tried to sound unconcerned.
    “The director gets a list of all sick bay admissions. I saw your name on the list. I wanted to see how you were.”
    “You came to see me?”
    “Yes, but they said you had already been dismissed. I must have missed you by only a few seconds. Are you sure you're all right?”
    “I'm fine. Really. Just a little tired. If you'll excuse me…” He turned to leave, but Ari fell into step beside him, linking her arm in his. Spence felt his skin tingle under her touch.
    “I'm on my way to my quarters. I'll walk with you.” She smiled her suimy smile at him. “You don't mind, do you. Spencer?”
    “No, not at all.” They walked off together arm in arm.
    Spence imagined that everyone they passed stopped to gawk at them. He tried to shrug off the feeling that this was anything but an innocent promenade, a guy walking a girl to her door. But to his shrunken sense of social etiquette, the occasion loomed much larger.
    They made their way along the tube to a main axial and then toward the AdSec cluster where Ari and her father had their quarters. She kept up a running monologue the whole way, relieving Spence of the obligation to provide anything more than a perfunctory nod or