ce those things. She was looking into my eyes. I found
myself enjoying this experience.

"Will you come in for a while?" she asked slowly.

I relaxed. Everything was all right, for the present. She was taking me
at face value. She liked me and I liked her. The operation was
proceeding smoothly.

We walked into a large room, pleasantly furnished. On a couch opposite
the doorway three men sat talking. Two others stood before them. The
moment we entered, the conversation stopped abruptly.

"Beth?" said a tall, graying man. He was already stuffing papers into a
bag. "Back so soon?"

He wasn't really listening for a reply and Beth didn't make one. When he
had the papers in the bag he locked it, then snapped it around his wrist
and put the key in his pocket.

"We'll continue this at the lab," he said to the men. "I'll be along in
just a few minutes." Then he came up to us.

"I see you've replaced your blond young man," he smiled.

I knew all about this man who stood before me, with his stooped
shoulders and keen eyes. Eldeth Copperd would have been surprised at the
extent of my knowledge. I even knew why his government considered it
wise to have several of its security agents near him at all times.

"Can't you stay a minute and get acquainted with Marko?" Beth was
saying. "He's really a remarkable fellow. He can swim faster than you or
I could run."

"Literally? That would be quite fast."

"Literally."

He looked at me with sudden interest and I was sorry the conversation
had taken that turn. I didn't want those keen eyes examining me too
closely. They might note the absence of skin porosity.

Copperd didn't notice, but I made a mental note to watch my step. And
another not to go swimming again. Beth would be watching me, and if she
were close enough she might see the webbing pop out between my fingers
and toes when I got into the water.

"That's my father," Beth said after he and I had shaken hands and he had
left. "Demands exactness. He's a scientist, you know. A physicist."

"Oh?" I said. As if I hadn't known. "Is he always this busy?"

"Busier. If he isn't working at the lab till all hours, he's working at
home in his study. Or having conferences. The only time I have him alone
and to myself is Sunday evening."

That was the information I had been hoping for.

* * * * *

Beth and I sat on the couch her father had vacated. We talked. I watched
my words carefully; there