that had to be done immediately was
done. And the morning was hardly more than half over.

He rose to his feet. Surely, somewhere in the headquarters, there must
be some sort of trouble spot. Somewhere, someone was not producing to
the fullest possible. There must be some loose end. And he'd find it. He
went out, jerking a thumb back at his office as he passed his clerk's
desk.

"You can pick up those files again, Roberts. And see to it that my
office gets cleaned up a little. I won't be back for a while."

He went out, to walk down the corridor to the snack bar.

* * * * *

There were a few girls there. He walked by their table, glancing at
their badges. Communications people. He nodded to himself, ordered
coffee, and chose a table.

As he glanced at the girls' table, he could detect a current of
uneasiness. They'd probably been fooling away more time than they
should. Too bad he couldn't get more definite information from their
thoughts. Like to know just how long they had been there. He tilted his
wrist, taking a long look at his watch. The current of uneasiness
increased. No doubt to it, they'd been more than ten minutes already.

The girls hurriedly finished their coffee and left. Morely sipped at his
own cup.

At last, he got up and went out. Might be a good idea to visit the Fixed
Communications Section. Looked as though there might be a little laxity
there.

As he walked down the corridor, he mentally reviewed the operation of
communications. There was Fixed Communications, responsible for
communicator service to all the offices and quarters in the district, as
well as to the various commercial organizations. There were also Mobile
Comm, Warning, Long Lines, and Administrative Radio.

Of these, the largest was Fixed Communications, with its dial
equipment, its banks of video amplifiers, the network of cables, and the
substation equipment. It would take days to thoroughly check all their
activities. But the office was the key to the entire operation. He could
check their records, and get a clue to their efficiency. And he could
question the section chief.

He took the elevator to the communications level and walked slowly along
the hallway, glancing at the heavy steel door leading to Warning as he
passed it. That could be checked later, though there would be little
point to it.

It had always annoyed him to think of the operators in that section.
They simply sat arou