"My room's a frightful mess," Harris said, thinking of the many things in there he would not want her to see. "How about yours?" "It doesn't matter." They stopped at an autobar and he fed half-unit pieces into a machine until the chime sounded and a fully wrapped bottle slid out the receiving tray. Harris tucked it under his arm, made a mock-courteous bow to her, and they continued on their way to the hotel. The signal came just as they entered the lobby. * * * * * It reached Harris in the form of a sudden twinge in the abdomen; that was where the amplifier had been embedded. He felt it as three quick impulses, _rasp rasp rasp_, followed after a brief pause by a repeat. The signal had only one meaning: _Emergency. Get in touch with your contact-man at once._ Her hand tightened on his arm. "Are you all right? You look so pale!" In a dry voice he said, "Maybe we'd better postpone our party a few minutes. I'm--not quite well." "Oh! Can I help?" He shook his head. "It's--something I picked up on Alpheratz." Turning, he handed her the packaged bottle and said, "It'll just take me a few minutes to get myself settled down. Suppose you go to your room and wait for me there." "But if you're sick I ought to--" "No. Beth, I have to take care of this myself, without anyone else watching. Okay?" "Okay," she said doubtfully. "Thanks. Be with you as soon as I can." They rode the gravshaft together to the 58th floor and went their separate ways, she to her room, he to his. The signal in his abdomen was repeating itself steadily now with quiet urgency: _Rasp rasp rasp. Rasp rasp rasp. Rasp rasp rasp._ He neutralized the force-field on the door with a quick energy impulse and opened the door. Stepping inside quickly, he activated the spy-beam jammer again. Beads of sweat were starting to form on his skin. _Rasp rasp rasp. Rasp rasp rasp._ He opened the closet, took out the tiny narrow-beam amplifier he had hidden there, and tuned it to the frequency of the emergency signal. Immediately the rasping stopped as the narrow-beam amplifier covered the wavelength. Moments passed. The amplifier picked up a voice speaking in the code devised for use by Darruui agents alone. "Identify yourself." Harris identified himself according to the regular procedure. He went on to say, "I arrived on Earth today. My instructions were not to report to you for about two weeks." "I know that. There's an emergency situation." "What kind of emergency?" "There are Medlin agents on Earth. Normal procedures will have to be altered. Meet me at once." He gave an address. Harris memorized it and repeated it. The contact was broken. _Meet me at once._ The orders had to be interpreted literally. _At once_ meant right now, not tomorrow afternoon. His tryst with the yellow-haired Earthgirl would just have to wait. He picked up the house-phone and asked for her room. A moment later he heard her voice. "Hello?" "Beth, this is Abner Harris."