hen, and how."

"Yes, your Honor. If you will call the fourth name on the list I gave you,
and allow me to do the questioning, we can establish that."

The Chief Justice picked up a paper. "Lieutenant j.g. Ruth Ortheris, TFN
Reserve," he called out.

This time, Jack Holloway looked up into the big screen, in which he could
see everybody. Gerd van Riebeek, who had been trying to ignore the
existence of the woman beside him, had turned to stare at her in
amazement. Coombes's face was ghastly for an instant, then froze into
corpselike immobility: Ernst Mallin was dithering in incredulous anger;
beside him Ben Rainsford was grinning in just as incredulous delight. As
Ruth came around in front of the bench, the Fuzzies gave her an ovation;
they remembered and liked her. Gus Brannhard was gripping his arm and
saying: "Oh, brother! This is it, Jack; it's all over but shooting the
cripples!"

Lieutenant j.g. Ortheris, under a calmly blue globe, testified to coming
to Zarathustra as a Federation Naval Reserve officer recalled to duty with
Intelligence, and taking a position with the Company.

"As a regularly qualified doctor of psychology, I worked under Dr. Mallin
in the scientific division, and also with the school department and the
juvenile court. At the same time I was regularly transmitting reports to
Commander Aelborg, the chief of Intelligence on Xerxes. The object of this
surveillance was to make sure that the Zarathustra Company was not
violating the provisions of their charter or Federation law. Until the
middle of last month, I had nothing to report beyond some rather irregular
financial transactions involving Resident General Emmert. Then, on the
evening of June fifteen--"

That was when Ben had transmitted the tape to Juan Jimenez; she described
how it had come to her attention.

"As soon as possible, I transmitted a copy of this tape to Commander
Aelborg. The next night, I called Xerxes from the screen on Dr. van
Riebeek's boat and reported what I'd learned about the Fuzzies. I was then
informed that Leonard Kellogg had gotten hold of a copy of the
Holloway-Rainsford tape and had alerted Victor Grego; that Kellogg and
Ernst Mallin were being sent to Beta Continent with instructions to
prevent publication of any report claiming sapience for the Fuzzies and to
fabricate evidence to support an accusation that Dr. Rainsford and Mr.
Holloway were perpetrating a deliberate scientific hoax."

"Here, I'll have to