That went on several times, he remembered, before he'd begun to snap out of it a little. "But the funniest thing of all," Jed said, and looked at Cal quickly, penetratingly. "I had the feeling all the time that we were being watched!" Cal said nothing. "You know," Jed explained. "Like catching an animal in a trap? Then watching it, to see what it will do?" Cal nodded, without speaking. "It was just another crazy thought, I guess," Jed said deprecatingly. "Plumb crazy." But, clearly, he didn't believe it was. 14 At E.H.Q. on Earth communication had been working fine. The operator sat back and listened with trained ear alert for flaw or fade. A glance at the adjacent recording instrument told him it was taking down everything said--had been for hours. Nice deal about those naked colonists. Maybe the astronavigator on the E cruiser had been right. Maybe they'd all just gone back to nature, all the way back. He wondered if there were any pretty young female colonists. And how far did that word experimental take you? Some experiment! He realized his interest was running deeper than that of a detached technician's concern for well-operated equipment--mechanical, that is. Well, let it. Live a little once in a while. At least dream. The department supervisor hovered near the back of the operator's chair, breathing down his neck. He gnawed at the knuckles of his hand, and hoped nothing would go wrong this time. That astronavigator, Louie LeBeau, was probably right. Those colonists had turned nudist, and were afraid to report what they'd done back to Earth! Well! He looked around guiltily, wondering if he'd exclaimed it aloud. He decided he hadn't. If _he_ were out there, instead of that E, _he'd_ make them put their clothes back on, on the double. Getting everything all upset, causing all this trouble, getting everybody excited, all of E.H.Q. aroused, taking up the time of an E--just because they wanted to frolic around without any clothes on! If they were going to act like irresponsible children, they should be spanked like irresponsible children. He wondered if there were any young pretty female colonists who ought to be spanked. "... E Gray has just stepped off the landing ramp," the pilot out there was reporting. "He is walking toward the three colonists. Now they have started walking toward him. They do not seem hostile. They seem glad to see us. My crew and I are still at our stations, ready for ..." Silence. The set simply didn't register anything more except that faint sigh of uncompleted force fields in space. "What now? What now?" the supervisor pushed the operator to one side, and barely restrained the impulse to cuff him on the side of the head. "Now what did you do? Why did you meddle with it when it was coming in so clear and strong? What's happened?" "I didn't do anything. I didn't meddle with it. I don't know what's happened," the operator flared back. "The signal just stopped. That's all."