The big federal agent slouched in a chair, looking at nothing. He had lapsed again into the welcome protection of training and discipline. Several times during the past thirty hours, since presenting his plan, Flinn had had to restrain himself from probing the minds of his two associates. At a time like this, no one had the right to invade another's privacy. And curiosity had to give way for another reason--just one look into either of their minds might be enough to weaken or shatter his own resolve. The classic dilemma. Do nothing and face a living hell. Act and court destruction. The very simplicity of the alternatives made the problem intolerable. Telehypnosis--the untried hypothesis. _Good Lord!_ Flinn told himself. _I'm not even proficient as a telepath yet!_ Outside, he could hear the murmur of the city--the traffic, the people, moving along their separate paths to their own destinations in the humid afternoon heat. Well, anyway, once the complete curtain of security had fallen, there had been no more leaks. Proving that if a secret was big enough, it could be kept. Another classic problem. Do the people have the right to be informed? Does forewarned really mean forearmed? And how about the other nations of the world? * * * * * An hour after the dinner dishes had been cleared away by the government agent dubbing as a room-service waiter, the telephone rang with an awful insistency. Wilmer was the closest, but Hayes beat him to it by a full stride. After identifying himself, Hayes listened in silence. Then he said, "All right," and replaced the receiver. He nodded at Wilmer and Flinn. "It's go ahead." He paused and his face seemed to change--to relent somehow. "And they wanted me to relay this message: The President says, 'May God be with you.'" Flinn felt very alone and very close to something terrible. In the gloom of the darkened bedroom that adjoined Dobbs', he could see Wilmer silhouetted against the meager light that came through the curtained window from the street lamp outside and Hayes was out in the hall. But the knowledge of the proximity of the two men did nothing to lessen Flinn's loneliness. The committee had even couched it as an order, trying to relieve him of that small burden, but if he failed, who would remain to accept the blame? A few times in his forty-two years had Flinn wondered how it would feel to have the fate of the world riding upon his shoulders. Now he knew and wished he didn't. The door opened silently and Hayes eased in. "He's asleep," the agent breathed in a barely audible voice. "You can start anytime now." The plan was simple, deceptively so. Since Dobbs' block was a kind of self-hypnotic thing, why not countermand it with a deeper hypnotic suggestion introduced by telepathy? If it could be done and was strong enough, the second would counteract the first. At least for a short time.