"Whee ... whee-yu!" Kit whistled descriptively. "_What_ a seven-sector call-out! Just who do you think you're going to knock out of the ether on Lyrane II?" "Nobody at all." Clarrissa laughed. "This is all for you, son--and maybe a little bit for me, too." "I'm stunned. You're a blinding flash and a deafening report. But I've got to do a flit, Gorgeous. So clear--" "Wait a minute--you _can't_ go yet! I've got questions to ask you about these new networks and things. How do I handle them?" "Sorry--you've got to develop your own techniques. You know that already." "In a way. I thought maybe, though, I could wheedle you into helping me a little. I should have known better--but tell me, all Lensmen don't have minds like this, do they?" "I'll say they don't. They're all like yours was before, but not as good. Except the other L2's, of course--Dad, Worsel, Tregonsee, and Nadreck. Theirs are more or less like yours is now; but you've got a lot of stuff that they haven't." "Huh?" she demanded. "Such as?" "'Way down--there." He showed her. "You worked all of that area yourself. I only showed you how, without getting in too close." "Why? Oh, I see--you would. Life-force. I would have lots of that, of course." She did not blush, but Kit did. "Life-force" was a pitifully inadequate term indeed for that which Civilization's only Lensman-mother had in such measure, but they both knew what it was. Kit ducked. "You can always tell all about a Lensman by looking at his Lens; it's an absolute diagram of his whole mind. You've studied Dad's, of course." "Yes. Three times as big as the ordinary ones--or mine--and much finer and brighter. But _mine_ isn't, Kit?" "It _wasn't_, you mean. Put it on and look at it now." She opened a drawer, and even before she could snap the bracelet around her wrist, her eyes and mouth became three round O's of astonishment. She had never seen that Lens before, or anything like it. It was three times as big as hers, seven times as fine and as intricate, and ten times as bright. "Why, this isn't mine!" she gasped. "But this is where I put--" "Sneeze, Gorgeous," Kit advised. "Cobwebs. It lit up, didn't it? You aren't thinking a lick. Your mind changed, so your Lens had to. See?" "I see." Clarrissa looked deep into her son's eyes, her face again paling under her make-up. "Now _I'm_ going to get personal, Kit. Will you let me look at _your_ Lens? You never seem to wear it--I haven't seen it since you graduated." "Sure. Why not?" He reached into a pocket. "I take after you, that way; neither of us gets any kick out of throwing his weight around." His Lens flamed upon his wrist. It was larger in diameter than Clarrissa's, and thicker. Its texture was finer; its colors were brighter, harsher, and seemed, somehow, more _solid_. Both studied both Lenses for a moment, then Kit seized his mother's hand, brought their wrists together, and stared.