She went on, "Does the fact that I was allowed to leave the project several times a week--actually whenever I felt like it--have something to do with that?" * * * * * Weldon said, "We believe that the rogue has taken advantage rather regularly of that arrangement. After all, there was no more dependable way of informing himself of the exact state of affairs on the project than...." "Than by picking my mind?" Weldon hesitated, said, "There's no denying that we have placed you both in danger, Arlene. Under the circumstances, we can offer no apology for that. It was a matter of simple necessity." "I wasn't expecting an apology, Colonel Weldon." Her face was white. "But I'm wondering what the rogue is supposed to attempt now." "To get possession of the projector?" Weldon hesitated again. "We don't know that exactly. We believe we have considered every possible approach, and whichever he selects, we're prepared to trap him in the process of carrying it out." Dr. Lowry said, "But he must suspect that you intend to trap him!" Weldon nodded. "He does, naturally. But he's under a parallel disadvantage there--he can't be certain what the traps are. You don't realize yet how elaborate our precautionary measures have been." Weldon indicated the small door in the wall beyond Dr. Lowry. "The reason I use only that private conduit to come here is that I haven't stepped off a security island for almost three years! The same has been true of anyone else who had information we had to keep from the rogue ... including incidentally Mr. Green, whose occasional 'public appearances' during this critical period have been elaborately staged fakes. We communicate only by viewphone; in fact, none of us even knows just where the others are. There is almost no chance that he can do more than guess at the exact nature of our plans." "And with all that," Lowry said slowly, "you expect he will still go ahead and make a bid for the projector?" "He will because he must!" Weldon said. "His only alternative would be to destroy this security island with everything on it at the last moment. And that is very unlikely. The rogue's actions show that in spite of his current troubles with us he has a vast contempt for ordinary human beings. Without that feeling, he would never have permitted the diex projector to be completed. So he will come for it--very warily, taking every precaution, but confident of out-maneuvering us at the end." Arlene asked, "And isn't it possible that he will do just that?" There was a barely perceptible pause before Weldon replied. "Yes," he said then, "it's possible. It's a small chance--perhaps only a theoretical one. But we're not omniscient, and we may not know quite as much about him as we think. It remains possible."