"Why do you keep stressing Ultrablack?" Lennick asked. "I still haven't even figured out why I was to meet you here tonight just before it was turned on. We'd really be helpless then." "Bob," Frank said gently, "this is nothing personal, but--Well, when the movement gets a new member, we don't just lay out all our schemes on a red carpet for him. There's a trial period for all new members. You've been on probation for a couple of months, now. The less you know of our plans, our memberships, the less you could spill if you were a plant." Lennick grinned wryly and shook his head. "I know. That was a real bone of contention between Andra and myself when we'd been engaged nearly six weeks. A wife can't keep secret meetings from her husband very well; he may suspect her outings are something even worse. When I finally pressed her about broken dates, and times she couldn't be reached, and she told me about the movement, I was pretty miffed she didn't trust me with all she knew." "She couldn't, Bob, you know that. The information wasn't hers to give out, without permission of the rest of us. We could not put our necks in a noose because Andra adores your big brown eyes." "I'm surprised you're still speaking to me, after yesterday," Lennick said with chagrin. "Bob, you did what any of us could have done: Nothing. One man can't fight off a Goon Squad. We would have lost _two_ members, instead of just Andra, if you'd put up a fuss." "But about Ultrablack," Bob said, frowning. "I know you people have meetings after Light-of-Day goes off. _How_ you do it is beyond me, with the streets alive with Goons, and darkness everywhere, even indoors." * * * * * "If there were a chance of rescuing Andra when tonight's Ultrablack came on, I'd tell you, Bob," Frank said sincerely. "It'd give you the chance you didn't have yesterday to do something for her. I think you can be trusted. I trusted you enough, just now, to tell you about the tapped phone." "You had to," Lennick said with a shrug. "Or else I'd be leery about believing you knew so much about Stanton's private call." "We set that up ever since Stanton started appearing in our Hive-located scripts. He's always so busy, keeping in touch with his office between takes, that we've kept one jump ahead of the Goons, on occasion. It must drive him nuts, wondering about the raids that never came off." * * * * * Lennick got to his feet. "I wish we didn't have to just _sit_ here this way! At this very moment, Andra may be still uncaptured. If she could be warned--" "She could, if top-level privilege didn't entitle young Bodger's fiancee to an unlisted number. You can go up there if you want, but--I know too much about the movement to risk it. If you're caught, it's unimportant--insofar as the sum of your knowledge, I mean. But I don't dare let myself be taken."