r about five hundred miles north of here, which had been vacated
for the purpose. I spent all my time with them, and Dr. Mallin was with
them most of the time. Then, on Monday night, Mr. Coombes came and got
them."

"Mr. Coombes, did you say?" Gus Brannhard asked.

"Mr. Leslie Coombes, the Company attorney. He said they were needed in
Mallorysport. It wasn't till the next day that I found out what they were
needed for. They'd been turned loose in front of that Fuzzy hunt, in the
hope that they would be killed."

She looked across at Coombes; if looks were bullets, he'd have been deader
than Kurt Borch.

"Why would they sacrifice four Fuzzies merely to support a story that was
bound to come apart anyhow?" Brannhard asked.

"That was no sacrifice. They had to get rid of those Fuzzies, and they
were afraid to kill them themselves for fear they'd be charged with murder
along with Leonard Kellogg. Everybody, from Ernst Mallin down, who had
anything to do with them was convinced of their sapience. For one thing,
we'd been using those hearing aids ourselves; I suggested it, after
getting the idea from Xerxes. Ask Dr. Mallin about it, under veridication.
Ask him about the multiordinal polyencephalograph experiments, too."

"Well, we have the Holloway Fuzzies placed on Xerxes," the Chief Justice
said. "We can hear the testimony of the people who worked with them there
at any time. Now, I want to hear from Dr. Ernst Mallin."

Coombes was on his feet again. "Your Honors, before any further testimony
is heard, I would like to confer with my client privately."

"I fail to see any reason why we should interrupt proceedings for that
purpose, Mr. Coombes. You can confer as much as you wish with your client
after this session, and I can assure you that you will be called upon to
do nothing on his behalf until then." He gave a light tap with his gavel
and then said: "Dr. Ernst Mallin will please take the stand."

XV

Ernst Mallin shrank, as though trying to pull himself into himself, when
he heard his name. He didn't want to testify. He had been dreading this
moment for days. Now he would have to sit in that chair, and they would
ask him questions, and he couldn't answer them truthfully and the globe
over his head--

When the deputy marshal touched his shoulder and spoke to him, he didn't
think, at first, that his legs would support him. It seemed miles, with
all the staring faces on either side of him. Somehow, he re