the medicouncilor, thorton, was waiting impatiently on the telecom when they got to cameron's office.

"we will arrive in about two hours," he said immediately. "when i say we, i mean a number of top governmental officials and scientists. meanwhile, let's get on with this gravital business." he caught sight of the commander. "general judd, this is a technical matter. i don't think you'll be interested in it."

"very well, sir. i'll stand guard outside."

the medicouncilor was silent until the door closed behind general judd. "sit down, docchi," he said with unexpected kindness. he paused to note the effect. "i can sympathize with you. you had everything you wanted nearly within your reach. and, after that, to return to handicap haven—well, i can understand how you feel. but since you did return, i think we can arrange to do something for you."

docchi stared at the man on the screen. a spot of light pulsed on his cheek and then flared rapidly over his face.

"sure," he said casually. "but there are criminal charges against me."

"a formality," said the medicouncilor. "with a thing like the discovery—or rediscovery—of the gravital drive to think about, no one is going to worry much about your unauthorized departure from the asteroid."

medicouncilor thorton sounded pleased. "i don't want to mislead you. we can't do any more for you medically than has already been done. however, you will find yourself the center of a more adequate social life. friends, work, whatever you want. naturally, in return for this, we will expect your full cooperation."

"naturally." docchi blinked at him and got to his feet. "sounds interesting. i'd like to think about it for a minute."

cameron planted himself squarely in front of the screen. "maybe i don't understand. i think you've got the wrong person."

"dr. cameron!" thorton glowered. "please explain."

"it was an easy mistake to make," said cameron. "cut off from communication, the gravital drive began to work. how? why? mostly, who did it? you knew it wasn't i. i'm a doctor, not a physicist. nor jordan, he's at best a mechanic. therefore it had to be docchi, because he's an engineer. he could make it work. but it wasn't docchi. he had nothing to do with—"

"look out!" cried thorton too late.

cameron fell to his knees. the same foot that brought him down crashed into his chin. his head snapped back and he sprawled on the floor. blood trickled from his face.

"docchi!" shouted thorton from the screen.

docchi didn't answer. he was crashing through the door. the commander was lounging against the wall. head down, docchi ran into him. the toaster fell from his belt to the floor. with scarcely a pause, docchi stamped on it and continued running.

the commander got to his feet and retrieved the weapon. he aimed it tentatively at the retreating figure; a thought occurred to him and he lowered it. he examined the damaged mechanism. after that, it went gingerly into a tunic pocket.

muffled shouts were coming from cameron's office. the general broke in.

the medicouncilor glared at him from the screen. "i can see that you let him get away."

the disheveled officer straightened his uniform. "i'm sorry, sir. i'll alert the guards immediately."

"never mind now. revive that man."

the general wasn't accustomed to giving resuscitation; it was out of his line. nevertheless, in a few minutes cameron was conscious, though somewhat dazed.

"now then, doctor, if it wasn't docchi who was responsible for the sudden functioning of the gravital drive, who was it?"

with satisfaction, cameron told him. he had not been wrong about the girl. listening to the detailed explanation of nona's mental abilities, the general was perplexed, as generals sometimes are.

"i see." the medicouncilor nodded. "we overlooked that possibility altogether. not the mechanical genius of an engineer. instead, the strange telepathic sense of a girl. that puts the problem in a different light."

"it does." cameron pressed his aching jaw. "she can't tell us how she does it. we'll have to experiment. fortunately, it won't involve any danger. with the monitor system we can always control the gravital drive."

the medicouncilor leaned perilously backward and shook his head. "you're wrong. it's supposed to, but it doesn't. we tried. for a microsecond, the monitor did take over, but the gravital computer is smarter than we thought, if it was the computer that figured out the method. it found a way of cutting the power from the monitor circuit. it didn't respond at all."

cameron forgot his jaw. "if you didn't bring the rocket back on remote, why did she come?"

"docchi knows," growled the medicouncilor. "he found out in this room. that's why he escaped." he tapped on his desk with blunt fingers. "she could have taken the ship anywhere she pleased and we couldn't have stopped her. since she voluntarily came back, it's obvious that she wants the asteroid!"

medicouncilor thorton tried to shove his face out of the screen and into the room. "don't you ever think, general? there isn't any real difference between gravital units except size and power. what she did to the ship she can do as easily to the asteroid." he thrust out a finger and pointed angrily. "don't stand there, general judd. find that girl!"

it was late for that kind of command. the great dome overhead trembled and creaked in countless joints. the little world shivered, groaned as if it had lain too long in an age-old orbit. it began to move.