"Why are you feeling so weak? You've absorbed a shot of a special little drug, Miss Trelawney. It does two things that are very useful under certain circumstances. One of them is that it keeps the recipient from carrying out any sudden or vigorous action. You might, for example, be able to get out of that chair if you tried hard enough. But you'd find yourself lying on the carpet then. Perhaps you'd be able to get up on your hands and knees. You might even start crawling from the room--but you'd do it very slowly." * * * * * Dowland paused. "And the other thing the drug does is to put the person into an agreeable frame of mind, even when he'd rather not be agreeable. He becomes entirely cooperative. For example, you'll find yourself quite willing to answer questions I ask." "So you _are_ a police investigator," she said evenly. "That's right." Dowland swung another chair around beside him, and sat down facing her. "Let's not waste any more time, Miss Trelawney. Were you going to shoot me just now?" She looked briefly surprised. "No," she said. "Not unless you forced me to it. I was going to disarm you and lock you in a cellar downstairs. You would have been safe there as long as was necessary." "How long would that be?" "Until I get help." "Help from whom?" Angry red flared about Jill's cheekbones. "This is incredible!" she said softly. "Help from Carter." "Firebrand Carter?" Dowland asked. "Yes." "He's associated with your uncles?" "Yes." "Who heads the group?" "Miguel and Carter head it together. They're very close friends." "And who else is in it--besides Paul and yourself?" She shook her head. "There must be quite a few people in it, but I don't know their names. We feel it's best if we know as little as possible about one another at present." "I see. But they're all Terran Freeholders?" "Yes, of course." "How did you happen to be told about Carter?" "In case of an emergency here, I'm to contact him on a tight-beam number." "And just what," Dowland asked, "have your uncles been doing here?" "Building a machine that will enable them to move back through time." "With the help of Ym-400?" "Yes." * * * * * Dowland stared at her thoughtfully, feeling a little chilled. She believed it, of course; she was incapable of lying now. But he didn't believe it. He'd heard that some Overgovernment scientists considered time-travel to be possible. It was a concept that simply had no reality for him. But he thought of the rumors about YM--and of Miguel found lying inexplicably outside the laboratory building. He asked carefully, "Have they completed the machine?" "Yes. They were making the first full-scale test of it this morning--and they must have been at least partly successful." "Because of Miguel?" "Yes."