Rains thought swiftly. Perhaps he could use the soldiers to guide him. His mind reached out, and was bent backward. Ten inches of steel couldn't stop his thoughts, but a few molecules of air did. The man had limited ability, but was exceedingly powerful within those limitations. He explained the difficulty to Gowru, who stopped and scratched his head. "If I made a tiny hole--" "That's all I need," said Rains, and his mind was through it as it formed. He skipped from thought to thought, lightly so as not to leave an awareness of his mental presence. The two groups of soldiers had joined and started after them, cautiously and at a safe distance. Unwittingly he and Gowru had stumbled into army maneuvers. And it wasn't going to be easy to get out of them. Naturally, the soldiers were curious. And the tank--He looked into the lieutenant's mind. He shivered. There weren't supposed to be tanks in this area. And Gowru was not an army man; his idea of a tank was different from that of Indian designers. He had created a fearsome image, the more frightening because it didn't correspond to any known make, friendly or foreign. This was something the Army was going to investigate, with everything they had. He explained it briefly to his guide. "Hmmm," said Gowru. "Maybe I should change the shape to something they're familiar with?" He'd thought of that. "It's too late. They'd know something mental was involved and would call in Gommaf. Could you hold them off?" * * * * * Gowru shrugged. Rains thought he probably could, though he might not be aware of it yet. But though they'd be safe from the mental onslaught of Gommaf, there was a catch. Sooner or later they'd have to have food and water, the screen would come down and then they'd be at the mercy of the Indian mentalists. There had to be another way and he thought he saw it. "How long can you keep this up?" "For days," sat Gowru. "Once it's in existence I merely have to touch it now and then to keep it up." "Good. Make a small hole so you can see where you're going and start out across the plain." It was late afternoon and would soon be dark.... "There's an army camp ahead," said Gowru. "National guard?" "Multi-national guard. This is India." Rains sighed. There was no use asking what was on either side and behind them--more troops. Planes droned overhead. Mobile searchlights were trained on them. Fortunately, there were no big guns in this area. Perhaps Gowru could build up the image to withstand even the direct hit of a large caliber shell, but the concussion wouldn't be pleasant. "If there's an army camp there must be a trench," Rains said. "Do you see any?" Gowru Chandit looked. "There's a trench." "Angle the tank so we'll pass directly over it." He paused. "Can you project this image?" "Keep it in existence and control where it goes though we're no longer inside? Yes, I can do that."