Government itself used them, Saxon was fully aware. Only by employing even more ruthless measures than the corporations was government able to maintain itself. Government had the finest research department anywhere. And the Terrestial Intelligence Service was the most efficient organization of its kind. Not only that; Government had power, power unbelievable in its Space Navy. Ileth paused, allowing him to come abreast of her, her hazel-green eyes smiling at him. Saxon hastily blocked out her thoughts in embarrassment. "_You're a pretty little Judas_," he thought, then glanced up as a bright glare lit the night sky. A trail of orange flame streaked above the city and disappeared like a meteor in reverse. The _Morning Star_, a crack luxury liner, was heading out for Venus. It must be nineteen hours. "Our last night," said Ileth softly. "Tomorrow we'll be leaving for Alpha Centauri like that ship." They had reached a door in the glistening plastic face of a building. The door opened automatically, responsive to the girl's personal vibration. Saxon saw a lambent darkness beyond the entrance. The ceiling of Ileth's apartment was the transparent rind of the city itself. The moon streamed through the crystal plastic, lighting it faintly. His nerves tightened, his sixth sense of feel exploring the apartment for a trap. But no warning tingle prickled his skin. Then the lights came on as Ileth passed inside. They glowed from the walls like cold flame. With a sigh of relief, Saxon saw that the chamber was empty. "Sit down," said Ileth, "I'll get you a drink." She disappeared through a doorway across the room, stripping her yellow green jacket from her shoulders as she went. Jon Saxon sank onto a lounge, following Ileth's progress by her thoughts. "_Soda. Where's that soda? Oh, here it is. Emil must have put it there. Like a man._" Then, "_Contact Emil?_" A moment's indecision. Saxon could almost hear the girl thinking. "_Not yet_," she decided with a mental shiver. "_Saxon would be no good to us dead._" Then, "_Make the drink strong. Take a gallon to make him drunk. Big brute. Shoulders like a door. I could...._" Saxon hastily blocked out her thought in embarrassment. The girl's mind was too graphic. For the hundredth time his brain grappled with the identity of those alien telepaths who had warned him in the street tonight. The radiation branch of Government's Bureau of Research had been experimenting with thought projection. Could they have been successful? It might account for the alien feel he had experienced for that impenetrable barrier which had defeated his attempt to reach their minds. A machine?