Kiffer ran the tips of his fingers across his lower lips. "True; but maybe they were suicide squads--or maybe they have a hospital ship following them to pick them up and cure them. After all, Bilford has this cure of his working pretty well now; if the Enlissa invented this thing, they probably know how to counter its effects. "Besides, you didn't think we'd tested the _aJ_ guns thoroughly. And we're still surviving." Roysland turned to look at Kiffer, and his face was definitely sneering. "Kiffer, there are times when your thinking has all the clarity and lucidness of a hunk of obsidian. "There's a difference between the lack of testing of the _aJ_ gun and the Enlissa's not thoroughly testing the mindjammer. There's a difference between looking for something you could logically expect and not finding something that you don't even suspect the existence of." Kiffer nodded. "Sure; I see what you mean. But that simply means that they don't have any way of shielding the effect--so they have a hospital ship trailing them." Roysland lay back again and closed his eyes. "Obsidian," he said. Then, after a moment, "One: Why do they sacrifice a crew--even if it's only for a short time? Two: Why don't they use such an efficient weapon against ships that blast them out of the sky? Three: Why do they come in at a ship without firing anything at all? "Until your hypothesis answers all of those questions--and a lot more besides--it isn't worth a damn." Kiffer chewed at his upper lip and then looked at his wrist watch. "If you're going to test that thing in an hour, you'd better call Eckisster now." Roysland sighed deeply. "O.K.; I'll call Old Nasty. Give me a minute to brace myself." He didn't take the minute; he didn't really need it. He walked over to the solidiphone and punched in the code numbers. Three seconds later, General Director Eckisster was sitting in the middle of the room. "You're ready, eh? All right; go ahead," he said. "Find out what you can--if anything. I have no further instructions--just don't get yourself killed while you're working." The heavy space boot that came from Roysland's hand sailed through the image just as it was dissolving. Eckisster had cut off without waiting for Roysland's answer. "One of these days," Kiffer said, "you're going to be in his office, and you'll forget it isn't a solidograph image and let go with a boot, or something, and knock the boss' teeth in." Roysland shook his head emphatically as he walked over to pick up the boot. "Nope. If he's actually there in person, I'm going to have a poisoned needle to jab into him. I'll show him how to needle people!" * * * * *