who have made telepaths hated and feared
by the Normals._

_And so they should hate and fear us_, came the snarling mental answer.
_Within a few generations, we will have supplanted them. We will control
Earth--not they._

* * * * *

The exchange had only taken a fraction of a second. Houston was already
charging toward the open door, hoping to get inside before Sager could
reach a weapon.

_You call me a traitor_, Houston thought, _but you have been framing
innocent Controllers, putting them into the hands of the PD Police_.

_That's a lie!_ the reply came hotly. _We would never betray another
telepath to the stupid Normals! If a telepath were so bullheaded as to
get in our way, we'd dispose of him. But it would be Controller
justice; we wouldn't turn him over to animals!_

In one blazing moment, Houston realized that the Controller was telling
the truth!

No mental communication can be expressed properly in words. In, behind,
and around each statement, other, dimmer nuances of thought gleam
through. Each thought tells the receiver much more than can be put down
in crude verbal symbols.

Thus, Houston already knew that Lasser, Sager, and Pederson were the
three top men in a world-wide clique of megalomaniac Controllers. This
was the top of the madmen's organization; these three were the _creme de
la creme_ of the Normal human's real enemies.

He knew that there were twelve others scattered over Earth, and he knew
where and who they were. That brief exchange had brought all the
information into Houston's own mind as it leaked from the minds of the
others. He knew it without thinking about how he knew it.

And they were _not_ the ones who had been turning the sane Controllers
over to the Psychodeviant Police!

Then who was? And why?

Houston was right back where he had started.

But that brief instant of confusion was Houston's downfall. Sager
instantly realized that he had delivered, inadvertently, a telling blow
to Houston's mind.

Physically, Houston had been propelling himself toward the open door. At
the instant of the revelation, he had been part way through it. And at
that moment, Sager acted.

He slammed all his weight violently against his side of the door,
knocking Houston off balance as the door swung and struck him. He went
down, and Sager was on top of him before he struck the floor.

It was the weirdest battle ever fought, but its true worth could only
ha