t last.

"Don't you try smoothing me down," Boyd snapped.

Malone's eyebrows rose. "O.K.," he said. "I won't smooth you down. I'll
just tell you to shut up, to keep driving--and to show some respect to
Her Majesty."

"I--" Boyd stopped. There was a second of silence.

"_That's_ better," Her Majesty said with satisfaction.

Lady Barbara stretched in the back seat, next to Her Majesty. "This is
certainly a long drive," she said. "Have we got much farther to go?"

"Not too far," Malone said. "We ought to be there soon."

"I ... I'm sorry for the way I acted," Barbara said.

"What do you mean, the way you acted?"

"Crying like that," Barbara said with some hesitation. "Making
an--absolute idiot of myself. When that other car--tried to get us."

"Don't worry about it," Malone said. "It was nothing."

"I just--made trouble for you," Barbara said.

Her Majesty touched the girl on the shoulder. "He's not thinking about
the trouble you cause him," she said quietly.

"Of course I'm not," Malone told her.

"But I--"

"My dear girl," Her Majesty said, "I believe that Sir Kenneth is, at
least partly, in love with you."

Malone blinked. It was perfectly true--even if he hadn't quite known it
himself until now. Telepaths, he was discovering, were occasionally
handy things to have around.

"In ... love--" Barbara said.

"And you, my dear--" Her Majesty began.

"Please, Your Majesty," Lady Barbara said. "No more. Not just now."

The Queen smiled, almost to herself. "Certainly, dear," she said.

* * * * *

The car sped on. In the distance, Malone could see the blot on the
desert that indicated the broad expanse of Yucca Flats Labs. Just the
fact that it could be seen, he knew, didn't mean an awful lot. Malone
had been able to see it for the past fifteen minutes, and it didn't look
as if they'd gained an inch on it. Desert distances are deceptive.

At long last, however, the main gate of the laboratories hove into view.
Boyd made a left turn off the highway and drove a full seven miles along
the restricted road, right up to the big gate that marked the entrance
of the laboratories themselves. Once again, they were faced with the
army of suspicious guards and security officers.

This time, suspicion was somewhat heightened by the dress of the
visitors. Malone had to explain about six times that the costumes were
part of an FBI arrangement, that he had not stolen his identity cards