Valnar grumbled, but helped Barlow send the plane into a field near the road, where it would not immediately be seen. They walked into the little suburban town. It took only a short time to find an automobile, but when they started away in it, the owner came running out of a tavern, shrieking for the police. Valnar lifted the projector and removed the man's objections and they sped on toward the White House. The closer they came to the symbol of government, the more doubtful Barlow became. It had all been too easy. Through years he had been conditioned to a powerful, almost omnipotent government that struck back savagely at the least resistance. And now he was nearing the nervous center of that government in an automobile! Like any government-approved and personally curious tourist. It almost made him feel guilty. The guards at the entrance of the drive halted them. Valnar lifted the projector confidently and the men slumped to the pavement. Barlow got out and dragged them aside and opened the gates, then sent the car up the drive. He halted at the entrance at Valnar's direction. Valnar climbed out of the car with Olympian confidence as a pair of guards barred the way and an officer stepped forward to question them. "Your names, gentlemen?" Barlow followed Valnar out of the car and watched Valnar thumb the switch of the projector. The beam swept over the three soldiers. And nothing happened. Valnar passed the beam over them again and still nothing resulted. The two at the doorway still barred the way and the officer smiled grimly. "Your names are unnecessary," he said. "We have been waiting for you." He waved to someone in the darkness. Barlow turned and saw a full squad with leveled rifles. There was no chance to get the two rifles he had brought with them. There was no chance for any sort of a fight. They were trapped as completely as rats in a wire cage. Valnar seemed paralyzed. He didn't seem to realize that he had been vulnerable. He made no resistance when the officer took the projector from his hands. He stared at Barlow dazedly. "The Director will see you," the officer said to Valnar, then turned to look at Barlow. "You must be Barlow," he mused. "Put him with the rest. The Organization will be liquidated tomorrow." * * * * * Barlow was escorted to prison by two watchful soldiers. He was silent. The abrupt failure had stunned him, and he knew that it was no use to appeal to his guards. With them Dodson was not a ruler; he was a messiah. The Mental Ray effected that in the common man. They might be pretty decent fellows with wives and families and friends, but on that one point they were adamant and inviolable. He was quickly booked, then taken down the corridor between the cells. He was thrust into the largest cell, the tank, and heard the door close behind him with dreadful finality. "Barlow!" came a surprised shout from one of the men in the crowded cell.