The left hand's movements slowed down but did not stop while Jackson's steel blue eyes settled, unnervingly blinkless now, on them. "No, I guess you're not ready for it," he cryptically announced. The smile came back, even warmer than before, but they were still a little shaken as he bade them follow. "One pupil," Stern whispered to the Commander, "one pupil was more dilated than the other!" "Don't I have enough problems without your fantasies?" Linder came back crossly. "Cut it out." "You heard what the Commander said," Barnes joined in, more menacing than his superior. Stern considered the Message Center Chief with contempt. The broad-beamed runt was basking in his usual reflected-glory routine, cultivating the Commander's favor by encouraging his natural impulsiveness. _A fine example of cooperation we can set for anyone else!_ he thought bitterly. But, like the others, he was quickly distracted from personal problems by what became apparent as soon as they entered Reception's building. Inside, it had a rundown appearance, nothing you could precisely put your finger on but the paint seemed slightly faded, and chairs, lockers, tables, in fact all objects, had a very slightly worn appearance. This was something no other planet permitted to happen; Reception was the place travellers saw first and every normal planet wanted to make a good initial impression. The people, though, there was the real reason for feeling that everything was sloppy, lax. Groups of officials and onlookers were milling about the great center hall area but they hardly seemed to notice their guests. Many of them had listening devices in their ears and their eyes wandered about even more outrageously than did Jackson's while everywhere there were hands making pointless gestures. "Look at that computer!" Linder snorted, beside himself with disgust. "It must be half out!" * * * * * The eight men gaped at the machine, standard spaceport size, that covered one wall. Here and there dial plates had fallen away, revealing disrupted wire circuits. "In the name of Council," Linder snapped, "I'm telling you to get that Thinker fixed." "Oh, it's in good enough shape," Jackson yawned. "We don't need the _whole_ thing functioning." "And I'm ordering you to need the whole thing! No wonder we haven't been receiving regular signals." People within earshot were grinning and turning away. "Commander--" "Linder. L-I--" "No need to spell _anything_ out for us ever, sir. As I said, we don't need the whole thing. We could fix it easily enough any time the necessity arose. But it never will again, I assure you." "Let's go to your Central Headquarters so I can settle this with someone in authority!" "There isn't anybody in authority." He considered the Commander's puzzled expression. "Because everyone is capable of authority."