r that, it went
gingerly into a tunic pocket.

Muffled shouts were coming from Cameron's office. The general broke
in.

The medicouncilor glared at him from the screen. "I can see that you
let him get away."

The disheveled officer straightened his uniform. "I'm sorry, sir. I'll
alert the guards immediately."

"Never mind now. Revive that man."

The general wasn't accustomed to giving resuscitation; it was out of
his line. Nevertheless, in a few minutes Cameron was conscious, though
somewhat dazed.

"Now then, Doctor, if it wasn't Docchi who was responsible for the
sudden functioning of the gravital drive, who was it?"

With satisfaction, Cameron told him. He had not been wrong about the
girl. Listening to the detailed explanation of Nona's mental
abilities, the general was perplexed, as generals sometimes are.

"I see." The medicouncilor nodded. "We overlooked that possibility
altogether. Not the mechanical genius of an engineer. Instead, the
strange telepathic sense of a girl. That puts the problem in a
different light."

"It does." Cameron pressed his aching jaw. "She can't tell us how she
does it. We'll have to experiment. Fortunately, it won't involve any
danger. With the monitor system we can always control the gravital
drive."

The medicouncilor leaned perilously backward and shook his head.
"You're wrong. It's supposed to, but it doesn't. We tried. For a
microsecond, the monitor did take over, but the gravital computer is
smarter than we thought, if it _was_ the computer that figured out the
method. It found a way of cutting the power from the monitor circuit.
It didn't respond at all."

Cameron forgot his jaw. "If you didn't bring the rocket back on
remote, why did she come?"

"Docchi knows," growled the medicouncilor. "He found out in this room.
That's why he escaped." He tapped on his desk with blunt fingers. "She
could have taken the ship anywhere she pleased and we couldn't have
stopped her. Since she voluntarily came back, it's obvious that she
wants the asteroid!"

Medicouncilor Thorton tried to shove his face out of the screen and
into the room. "Don't you ever think, General? There isn't any real
difference between gravital units except size and power. What she did
to the ship she can do as easily to the asteroid." He thrust out a
finger and pointed angrily. "Don't stand there, General Judd. Find
that girl!"

It was late for that kind of command. The great dome overhead trembled
an