You will use them for all routine communications." He nodded to
his deputy, who stepped to the door and beckoned.

Two men came in, carrying cartons, which they distributed around the
room. Morely waited until one of the cartons was in the hands of each of
the men before him, then he reached up to touch the headband he was
wearing.

"This is the device I'm speaking of," he said. "Each of you will wear
one of these at all times while you are on duty. You will find, after a
little practice, that you will be able to call any associate who is
similarly equipped. And you will use them in place of the conventional
communications whenever possible." He cleared his throat raspingly.

"Sufficient of these devices have been produced to outfit all the key
people of this district. I shall leave it to you to distribute them to
your subordinates, and to instruct those subordinates in their use. And
I shall expect the load on our communicator cables to be appreciably
diminished." He looked to one side of the room.

"Bond."

"Yes, sir."

"You will instruct those present in the use of this new communicator."
Morely rose and left the room.

* * * * *

As the district leader disappeared through the door, Harold Bond walked
to the front of the room. In his hands, he held one of the headbands and
a power pack.

"Gentlemen," he said, "this is a form of communicator. I don't pretend
to understand precisely how it operates, though I watched its
development and set up a production line for it. All I know is that it
works. And I know how to use it--to some extent.

"The district leader remarked that one could learn to use it with a
little practice, and he's right. Basically, anyone can use it as soon as
he puts it on for the first time. But it's like so many other tools. The
more you use it, the more proficient you get with it. And I suspect it
has capabilities I haven't found yet." He shrugged.

"Operation is simple in the extreme. Since the first model, refinements
have been added, and it's unnecessary now for an operator to make any
adjustments, other than intensity."

He picked up the power pack.

"This is the power pack, which is plugged into the headband, thus." He
paused as he connected the two plugs.

"If you gentlemen will perform the operations as I do, this will take
only a short time."

There was a crackling in the room as cartons were opened. Power packs
and headbands rattled agains