rs were secretaries, Achilles and
the tortoise, and all the other lovely paradox-models scattered around
were so much primer material for the Tr'en. "They can be treated
mathematically," one of the experts, a small emerald-green being, told
Korvin thinly. "Of course, you would not understand the mathematics.
But that is not important. You need only understand that we cannot be
confused by such means."

"Good," Korvin said.

The experts blinked. "Good?" he said.

"Naturally," Korvin said in a friendly tone.

The expert frowned horribly, showing all of his teeth. Korvin did his
best not to react. "Your plan is a failure," the expert said, "and you
call this a good thing. You can mean only that your plan is different
from the one we are occupied with."

"True," Korvin said.

There was a short silence. The expert beamed. He examined the
indicators of the lie-detector with great care. "What is your plan?"
he said at last, in a conspiratorial whisper.

"To answer your questions, truthfully and logically," Korvin said.

The silence this time was even longer.

"The machine says that you tell the truth," the experts said at last,
in a awed tone. "Thus, you must be a traitor to your native planet.
You must want us to conquer your planet, and have come here secretly
to aid us."

Korvin was very glad that wasn't a question. It was, after all, the
only logical deduction.

But it happened to be wrong.

* * * * *

"The name of your planet is Earth?" the Ruler asked. A few minutes had
passed; the experts were clustered around the single chair. Korvin was
still strapped to the machine; a logical race makes use of a traitor,
but a logical race does not trust him.

"Sometimes," Korvin said.

"It has other names?" the Ruler said.

"It has no name," Korvin said truthfully. The Tr'en idiom was like the
Earthly one; and certainly a planet had no name. People attached names
to it, that was all. It had none of its own.

"Yet you call it Earth?" the Ruler said.

"I do," Korvin said, "for convenience."

"Do you know its location?" the Ruler said.

"Not with exactitude," Korvin said.

There was a stir. "But you can find it again," the Ruler said.

"I can," Korvin said.

"And you will tell us about it?" the Ruler went on.

"I will," Korvin said, "so far as I am able."

"We will wish to know about weapons," the Ruler said, "and about plans
and fortifications. But we must first know of