een himself and Her Majesty--and only between those
two. Maybe it wasn't possible to let down the barrier in a selective
way, but he gave it all he had. A long second passed.

"My goodness!" Her Majesty said in pleased surprise. "There you are
again!"

"You can read me?" Malone asked.

"Why ... yes," Her Majesty said. "And I can see just what you're
thinking. I'm afraid, Sir Kenneth, that I don't know whether it's
selective or not. But ... oh. Just a minute. You go right on thinking,
now, just the way you are." Her Majesty's eyes unfocused slightly and
a long time passed, while Malone tried to keep on thinking. But it was
difficult, he told himself, to think about things without having any
things to think about. He felt his mind begin to spin gently with the
rhythm of the last sentence, and he considered slowly the possibility
of thinking about things when there weren't any things thinking about
you. That seemed to make as much sense as anything else, and he was
turning it over and over in his mind when a voice broke in.

* * * * *

"I was contacting Willie," Her Majesty said.

"Ah," Malone said. "Willie. Of course. Very fine for contacting."

Her Majesty frowned. "You remember Willie, don't you?" she said.
"Willie Logan--who used to be a spy for the Russians, just because he
didn't know any better, poor boy?"

"Oh," Malone said. "Logan." He remembered the catatonic youngster who
had used his telepathic powers against the United States until Her
Majesty, the FBI, and Kenneth J. Malone had managed to put matters
right. That had been the first time he'd met Her Majesty; it seemed
like fifty years before.

"Well," Her Majesty said, "Willie and I had a little argument just
now. And I think you'll be interested in it."

"I'm fascinated," Malone said.

"Was he thinking about things or were things thinking about him?"

"Really, Sir Kenneth," Her Majesty said, "you do think about the
silliest notions when you don't watch yourself."

Malone blushed slightly. "Anyhow," he said after a pause, "what was
the argument about?"

"Willie says you aren't here," Her Majesty said. "He can't detect you
at all. Even when I let him take a peek at you through my own
mind--making myself into sort of a relay station, so to speak--Willie
wouldn't believe it. He said I was hallucinating."

"Hallucinating me?" Malone said. "I think I'm flattered. Not many
people would bother."

"Don't underestimat