e gadget. Pretty sharp at engineering design, they say--"

Duran peered numbly across the desk at the grim faced official. This
was what he had been fearing all along. But despite his apprehension,
he was not entirely ready for it.

"That, I suppose," he said quietly, "was my son Roger."

Loeffler nodded slowly. "That was your boy, Vance. Sorry I had to be
the one to break it to you."

"But where is he?" Duran asked. "And does Molly know about it?"

"She knows he's been detained, but not how serious the charges are."

"Just how serious _are_ the charges?"

"I don't know yet," said Loeffler. "That's not really my province, of
course," said Loeffler. "But the problem is complicated by the fact
that Lake Wakataoga is state property, with the island merely leased
to Skinner."

Duran fumbled through his pockets for his cigarettes. He found them
and lit one.

"When did this happen?" he asked, aware that the painfully tangled
knot in his stomach was beginning to untie itself.

"This afternoon around one-thirty. A couple of guys fishing on the
lake saw the explosion and called the local civil defense
head-quarters. They claim they heard the rocket fall. Damned near had
a war scare till the pieces were found. They were easy enough to
trace, and the kids gave themselves away by all eight of them being
awol from their one o'clock classes. Especially since five of them
were absent from a physics class--that was one class they never cut."

"I don't see how they managed to go all the way through with it
without someone finding out," Duran said, bewilderedly.

"I know," agreed Loeffler, nodding. "That's the way we all felt. But
they admit doing it--hell, they're proud of it!--and we found the shed
where the thing was assembled."

"I don't suppose they offered any motive," Duran said.

"Oh, sure. They claim they'd been planning it ever since Skinner
wouldn't let them land copters on the island. Pretty weak, huh?"

The senator made no response.

"Well, Vance, I guess you'll want to talk to the boy," Loeffler
concluded. "I had him brought up here. Figured it would be best all
around that way. I knew you had to get back to Washington tomorrow and
probably wouldn't have time to see him then. Shall I have him come
in?"

When Duran hesitated, he added, "Oh, I've got to duck out for a few
minutes. Get some supper. Got a long evening ahead of me."

"Okay, Loeffler, send him in. And--" This was the hardest part. "And I
ap