He stopped walking and looked up. He was on Pennsylvania Avenue, heading toward the White House. That was no good. He went to the corner and turned off, down the block. He had, he told himself, nothing at all to see the President about. Not yet, anyhow. The streets were dark and very peaceful. _I get my best ideas while walking_, Malone said without convincing himself. He thought back to the video tapes. The report on the original use of the machine itself had been on one of the first tapes, and Malone could still see and hear it. That was one thing he did have, he reflected; his memory was pretty good. Burris had been the first speaker on the tapes, and he'd given the serial and reference number in a cold, matter-of-fact voice. His face had been perfectly blank, and he looked just like the head of the FBI people were accustomed to seeing on their TV and newsreel screens. Malone wondered what had happened to him between the time the tapes had been made and the time he'd sent for Malone. Maybe the whole notion of telepathy was beginning to get him, Malone thought. Burris recited the standard tape opening in a rapid mumble: "Any person or agent unauthorized for this tape please refrain from viewing further, under penalties as prescribed by law." Then he looked off, out past the screen to the left, and said: "Dr. Thomas O'Connor, of Westinghouse Laboratories. Will you come here, Dr. O'Connor?" Dr. O'Connor came into the lighted square of screen slowly, looking all around him. "This is very fascinating," he said, blinking in the lamplight. "I hadn't realized that you people took so many precautions--" He was, Malone thought, somewhere between fifty and sixty, tall and thin with skin so transparent that he nearly looked like a living X ray. He had pale blue eyes and pale white hair and, Malone thought, if there ever were a contest for the best-looking ghost, Dr. Thomas O'Connor would win it hands--or phalanges--down. "This is all necessary for the national security," Burris said, a little sternly. "Oh," Dr. O'Connor said quickly, "I realize that, of course. Naturally. I can certainly see that." "Let's go ahead, shall we?" Burris said. O'Connor nodded. "Certainly. Certainly." Burris said: "Well, then," and paused. After a second he started again: "Now, Dr. O'Connor, would you please give us a sort of verbal run-down on this for our records?" "Of course," Dr. O'Connor said. He smiled into the video cameras and cleared his throat. "I take it you don't want an explanation of how this machine works. I mean: you don't want a technical exposition, do you?" "No," Burris said, and added: "Not by any means. Just tell us what it does." * * * * *