There was a long regrouping pause; then Hazel said, "Dex has a fine idea." "Well?" "I've been thinking about gravity--" "About time," I said sarcastically, disliking myself but hoping it would get rid of them, "we opened three days ago." He ignored my petulance and grinned. "No, I meant anti-gravity. I think it's possible. If you had a superconductor in an inductance field--" "Why tell me?" "Thought you'd have some ideas." I shook my head. "That's what I hired _you_ for. My only idea right now is going to sleep." Bewildered, they left. And on the fourth night, no one came. So I headed for the Tour. Now, having risked everything on my logic, I was a dead pigeon if wrong. There were only minutes left. I eased through the back door, heard our automation equipment humming. Despite darkness, I shortcutted, nearly reaching the door to the service hallway in back of the planetary rooms. There was a distinct click, and a flashlight blinded me. I waited, stifling a cry, knowing if it were he, death was next. Death never spoke in such quiet, sweet tones. Frank asked, "What are you doing here?" _Frank, Frank, not you!_ Surprise shocked me: the light, her voice, the sudden suspicion. Still, diversion and counterattack ... "Perhaps you've the explaining to do," I said nastily. "Why are you here?" Her wide-eyed ingenuousness making me more suspicious, she answered, "Waiting to see if you'd appear." Then she stopped being truthful: "You forget we had a date--" "We didn't have any damned date," I said flatly, hurting deep within. "All right, I want to know why you're still driving yourself. It isn't work; that's finished." The way she talked made me hopeful. Maybe she wasn't the one ... and then came fear. Frank, if he's here, you're in danger. The monster respects nothing we hold dear--law, property, dignity, life. There was one way to find out: make her leave. I wrenched the flashlight from her, smashed it on the concrete floor. "I mean this: get the hell out of here, and stay out!" She said, distastefully, "I've seen it happen, but never this fast. You've gone Hollywood, you're a genius, you're tremendous--forgetting other people who helped. Go ahead with your mysterious deal--and I hope we never meet again." I struggled with ambivalence. This might be a trick; if not, Frank now hated me irreparably. * * * * * No time to worry about human emotions, not any more. Nausea reminded me of the primary purpose. I continued down the dark hallway, listening for Frank's return, hoping she needn't die. Light was unnecessary: I knew the right door. Because it started here, it would end here. Quickly, silently, I slipped inside the Venus room. With peculiar relief, I realized Frank wasn't it: my nose led me right to the monster. In an ecstatic, semistuporous state, smelling strongly of sulfur dioxide, he couldn't have been aware of me. Couldn't?