onus," designed to keep him working until the Society was
finished with that phase of its work.

It's rather difficult for a man to resist the salesmanship of a
telepath who knows exactly what his customer wants and, better, what
he needs.

* * * * *

On the fourth floor, there were sounds of movement, the low staccato
chatter of typers, occasional bits of conversation, and the hum of
electronic equipment.

Forsythe was impressed, though not a line on his face showed it. The
office to which he had been assigned was lined with electronic
calculators, and his name had already been put on the door in gold. It
was to his credit that he was impressed by the two factors in that
order.

In the rear of the room, two technicians were working on an open panel
in one of the units. Nearby, a dark-haired, dark-eyed, maturely
handsome woman in her early thirties was holding a clip board and
making occasional notes as the men worked. One of the men was using an
electric drill, and the whine of metal on metal drowned out the slight
noise that Taggert and Forsythe made as they entered. Only the woman
was aware that they had come in, but she didn't betray the fact.

"Miss Tedesco?" Taggert called.

She looked up from her clip board, smiled, and walked toward the two
newcomers. "Yes, Mr. Taggert?"

"'Bout done?"

"Almost. They're setting in the last component now."

Taggert nodded absently. "Miss Tedesco, this is Dr. Peter Forsythe,
whom I told you about. Dr. Forsythe, this is Miss Donna Tedesco; she's
the computer technician who will be working with you."

Miss Tedesco's smile was positively glittering. "I'm so pleased to
meet you, doctor; I know our work together will be interesting."

"I trust it will," Forsythe said, beaming. Then a faint cloud seemed to
come over his features. "I'm afraid I must confess a certain ... er ...
lack of knowledge in the realm of computerdom. Mr. Taggert attempted to
explain, but he, himself, has admitted that his knowledge of the details
is ... er ... somewhat vague."

"I'm not a computerman, myself," Taggert said, smiling. "Miss Tedesco
will be able to give you the details better than I can."

Miss Tedesco blinked. "You know the broad outline, surely? Of the
project, I mean."

"Oh, yes, certainly," Forsythe said hurriedly. "We are attempting to
determine whether the actions of human beings can actually have any
effect on the outcome of the prophecy itsel