on the mountain so late at night--prospecting?"

"You might call it that," Kennon said. His body sagged with relief.
Douglas thank Ochsner it was Douglas! He was running true to
form--talking when he should have been shooting.

Douglas jerked his head toward Copper, standing a few feet to his left.
"Who is she?"

"None of your business," Kennon snapped, hoping that his outburst
covered Copper's gasp of surprise and fear, and knowing that it didn't.

"I'm making it my business. There's something funny going on around
here."

Kennon blinked. Could it be that Douglas didn't know? Had he been
watching them on radar? Durilium was radar-transparent. It absorbed
and dissipated electromagnetic waves rather than reflecting them. For a
second he felt a tiny surge of hope.

"Stand where you are," Douglas said as he stepped over to the
half-paralyzed Copper and jerked the hood back from her face. For a
moment he looked puzzled. "Just who are you?" he demanded. "I don't
recall seeing you before." And then recognition dawned. "Old Doc's
Lani!" he gasped.

"She works for me now," Kennon said.

Douglas laughed. It wasn't a nice sound. "All dressed up?" he asked.
"Nice work."

"That's my fault," Kennon said.

"You know the rules," Douglas said. "I could blast you both."

"Go ahead," Kennon said, "but if you do, you'll never find out what
we're doing up here."

Douglas hesitated. Kennon's voice was flat and filled with utter
conviction.

"There's a reason why Copper's wearing that suit," Kennon continued,
"and you won't know that either."

The Burkholtz swiveled around to point at Kennon's belly. "I've had
about enough of this. Let's have it. Tell me what you're doing here!"

"I'll do better than that," Kennon said promptly. "I'll show you. You'll
be surprised at what we've uncovered." He made his muscles relax, and
forced himself to speak naturally. Copper, he noted, was still rigid
with terror. The Alexanders--any of them--were everything he had said
they were. They were the masters here. And despite Copper's boast, she
was as susceptible to their influence as any other Lani.

"All right," Douglas said, "show me this thing I'd never be able to
find without your help." He half turned to Copper. "Stay where you are,
Lani," he said. "Don't move until I come back."

"Yes, Man Douglas," Copper replied. Her voice was flat, colorless, and
submissive.

Kennon shuddered. He had never heard precisely that tone from her
b