"Well, you're not so bad, yourself. Any time I want mother to divorce you so as to change fathers for me I'll let you know." What a terrific, what a tremendous meaning was heterodyned upon that seemingly light exchange! "Clear ether, Dad!" "Clear ether, son!" XIII. Thousands of years were to pass before Christopher Kinnison could develop the ability to visualize, from the contemplation of one fact or artifact, the entire Universe to which it belonged. He could not even plan in detail his one-man invasion of Eddore until he could integrate all available data concerning the planet Kalonia into his visualization of the Boskonian Empire. One unknown, Ploor, blurred his picture badly enough; two such completely unknown factors made visualization, even in broad, impossible. Anyway, he decided, he had one more job to do before he tackled the key planet of the enemy; and now, while he was waiting for the dope on Kalonia, would be the best time to do it. Wherefore he sent out a thought to his mother. "Hi, First Lady of the Universe! 'Tis thy first-born who wouldst fain converse with thee. Art pressly engaged in matters of moment or import?" "Art not, Kit." Clarrissa's characteristic chuckle was as infectious, as full of the joy of life, as ever. "Not that it would make any difference--but methinks I detect an undertone of seriosity beneath thy persiflage. Spill it." "Let's make it a rendezvous, instead," he suggested. "We're fairly close, I think--closer than we've been for a long time. Where are you, exactly?" "Oh! Can we? Wonderful!" She marked her location and velocity in his mind. She made no effort to conceal her joy at the idea of a personal meeting. She never had tried and she never would try to make him put first matters other than first. She had not expected to see him again, physically, until this war was over. But if she could--! "QX. Hold your course and speed; I'll be seeing you in eighty-three minutes. In the meantime, it'll be just as well if we don't communicate, even by Lens." "Why, son?" "Nothing definite--just a hunch, is all. 'Bye, Gorgeous!" The two speedsters approached each other--inerted--matched intrinsics--went free--flashed into contact--sped away together upon Clarrissa's original course. "Hi, Mums!" Kit spoke into a visiphone. "I should, of course, come to you, but it might be better if you come in here--I've got some special rigs set up here that I don't want to leave. QX?" He snapped on one of the special rigs as he spoke--a device which he himself had built and installed; the generator of a screen which would detect upon every possible band and channel of thought or of intrusion. "Why, of course!" She came, and was swept off her feet in the exuberance of her tall son's embrace; a greeting which she returned with a fervor at least the equal of his own.