“Sorry,” Lou said. “It wasn’t.” “But that kind of thing,” Malone said, “it takes a tremendous amount of power, doesn’t it?” “Not when the receiver is a telepath,” Lou said sweetly. Malone nodded slowly. “That,” he said, “is exactly what I’m afraid of. Don’t tell me—” There was silence. “Well?” Malone said. “You said not to tell you,” Lou said instantly. “All right,” Malone said. “I rescind the order. Am I a telepath, or am I not?” Lou’s lips didn’t move. But then, they didn’t have to. The message came, unbidden, into Malone’s mind. _Of course you are. That was the whole reason for Andrew’s assigning you to this type of case._ “My God,” Malone said softly. Sir Lewis laid down his pipe in a handy ashtray. “Of course,” he said, “you will find it difficult to pick up anyone but Lou, at first. The rapport between you two is really quite strong.” “Very strong indeed,” Lou murmured. Malone found himself beginning to blush. “It will be some time yet,” Sir Lewis went on, “before you can really call yourself a telepath, my boy.” “I’ll bet it will,” Malone said. “Before I can call myself a telepath I’m going to have to get thoroughly used to the idea. And that’s going to take a long, long time indeed.” “You only think that,” Sir Lewis said. “Actually, you’re used to the idea now. That was Andrew’s big job.” “His big job?” Malone said. “Now, wait a minute—” “You don’t think I picked you for our first psionics case out of thin air, do you?” Burris said. “Before anything else, you had to be forced to accept the fact that such things as telepaths really existed.” “Oh, they do,” Malone said. “They certainly do.” “There’s me, for instance,” Burris said. “But you had to be convinced. So I ordered you to go out and find one.” “Like the Bluebird of Happiness,” Malone said. Burris frowned. “What’s like the Bluebird of Happiness?” he said. “You are,” Malone said. “I am not,” Burris said indignantly. “Bluebirds eat worms. My God, Malone.” “But the Bluebird,” Malone said doggedly, “was right at home all the time, while everyone searched for it far away. And I had to go far away to find a telepath, when you were the one who ordered me to do it.” “Right,” Burris said. “So you went and found Her Majesty. And, when you did find her, she forced acceptance on you simply by being Her Majesty and proving to you, once and for all, that she could read minds.” “Great,” Malone said. “Of course, I could have got myself killed taking these lessons—” “We were watching you,” Burris said. “If anything had happened, we’d have been right on the spot.” “In time to bury the body,” Malone said. “I think that’s very thoughtful of you.” “We would have arrived in time to save you,” Burris said. “Don’t quibble. You’re alive, aren’t you?” “Well,” Malone said slowly, “if you’re not sure, I don’t know how I can convince you.” “There,” Burris said triumphantly. “You see?”