Footsteps sounded coming down the stairs from above. "We watched the indicator needle on the elevator door in the lobby, and I signalled the 'copters on the roof," Lansberg whispered. The hallway began to fill quietly with police. Lieutenant Carnotti assigned one of the men to watch Amati, mainly in order to keep him out of the way, and Karnes led the men down the hall towards 523, guns drawn. Karnes knocked boldly on the door. "Yeah? Who is it?" asked someone inside. Karnes pitched his voice a little lower than normal, and said: "It's-a me, Meester Amati, only me, the soopratendant." The imitation wasn't perfect, but the muffling effect of the door would offset any imperfections. "Oh, sure, Mr. Amati. Just a sec." There was a short pause, filled with muffled conversation, then somebody was unlocking the door. * * * * * Things began to happen fast. As the door came open, Karnes saw that it had one of those inside chain locks on it that permit the door to be opened only a few inches. Without hesitation, he threw his weight against the door. Lansberg was right behind him. Under the combined weight of the two men, the chain ripped out of the woodwork, permitting the door to swing free. As it did so, it slammed into the face of the man who had opened it, knocking him backwards. There were seven or eight other men and two women in the room. One of the men already had a heavy pistol out and was aiming it at the doorway. Karnes dropped to the floor and fired just as the other's pistol went off. The high-velocity three millimeter slug whined through the air above Karnes' head and buried itself in Lansberg's shoulder. Lansberg dropped, spun halfway around from the shock. His knees hit Karnes in the back. Karnes lurched forward a little, and regained his balance. Something flew out of his coat pocket and skittered across the floor. Karnes didn't notice what it was until one of the men across the room picked it up. Brittain had picked up the mind impressor! Karnes was aware that there were more men behind him firing at another of the conspirators who had made the mistake of drawing a weapon, but he wasn't interested too much. He was watching Brittain. It only took seconds, but to Karnes it seemed like long minutes. Brittain had evidently thought the impressor was a weapon when he picked it up, and, after seeing his mistake, had started to throw it at the door. Then the impressor shimmered slightly, as though there were a hot radiator between the observor and the object. Brittain stopped, paralyzed, his eyes widening. Then he gasped and threw the impressor against the floor as hard as he could. "_NO!_" he screamed, "_IT'S A LIE!_" The impressor struck the floor and broke. From its shattered interior came a blinding multi-colored glare. Then there was darkness. Karnes fainted. When Karnes awoke, one of the policemen was shaking him. "Wake up, Mr. Karnes, wake up!"