"We've seen it," said Webber flatly. "Now what?" "We're not going to let them take us," said Jeriann. "Docchi will think of something." Her confidence wasn't warranted. Actually he'd done little to bring them this far. Intellectual force perhaps. He had turned discontent into something positive--and joint action had so far overcome the obstacles. But it was Nona who had given them the power to make the action worthwhile. And she was limited too--there would come an end to the seemingly endless flow of invention. There were circumstances against which no ingenuity could prevail. At the present they needed more to go on. They knew there was a ship behind them. The relationship had to be defined. Space was vast and they might be able to elude the pursuer. They had to find out where the ship was. They looked at Nona. She was standing close to Cameron, very close. She seemed to know what was expected of her, a mass rapport. She touched the doctor wonderingly as he smiled down at her and then she went to the scanner, working on it, changing the connections with negligent skill. The ship wavered as she worked. It disappeared for seconds and when it came back it was rapidly approaching the viewing surface of the scanner. Closer--they touched the hull--and then they were inside, gazing out of a screen. Jordan frowned. "They've duplicated the drive--have they duplicated her scanner?" "I don't think so," said Docchi. "They have telescreens of short range. But there's no reason why two completely different systems can't be spliced together." They were looking at an empty room and no one came in. Impatiently Nona touched the connections and the scene dissolved, shifted and blurred and when it cleared they were elsewhere, another screen, a different room. A broadshouldered man hunched over a desk, muttering and scratching his scalp. He signed his name several times; one of the sheets he crumpled and discarded, first tearing out his signature. The rest of the documents he dispatched in a slot. When he turned around they saw it was General Judd. He reached hastily for the switch but withdrew his hand before it got there. "Well, the orphans have come back, hand in hand." He smirked with calm deliberation. "Or should I say arm in arm, Cameron?" Docchi noticed it if no one else did. The general hadn't called Cameron a doctor. As far as the Medicouncil was concerned Cameron probably no longer was. It was the final proof, if Docchi had needed it; of which side Cameron was on. "We have a whole new alignment," continued the general. "Cameron with Nona, and our rebellious engineer with Jeriann." Docchi's face began to glitter but he caught the light as it surged through his veins, willing it to stop before it showed in his skin. "We haven't come back, General. We didn't think it would hurt to talk, though, if you don't mind." "I never mind a little chat, Docchi. Always willing to hear what the other fellow has to say--as long as he comes to the point."