"You're all logic and no intuition!" she shouted. "No understanding of feeling and art! Well, General: go back to your computers, but remember this--You can't build a machine that thinks like a man! You can't feed emotion into an electronic computer and get back anything except numbers! Logic, to you, General!" "I said get her out of here!" shouted Speidel. He rose half out of his chair, turned to Langsmith who sat in pale silence. "And I want a thorough investigation! I want to know where the security leak was that put her wise to our plans." "Watch yourself!" snapped Langsmith. Speidel took two deep breaths, sank back. _They're insane_, thought Francine. _Insane and pushed into a corner. With that kind of fragmentation they could slip into catatonia or violence._ She felt weak and afraid. Others around the table had arisen. Two civilians moved up beside Francine. "Shall we lock her up, General?" asked one. Speidel hesitated. Langsmith spoke first: "No. Just keep her under very close surveillance. If we locked her up it would arouse questions that we don't want to answer." Speidel glowered at Francine. "If you give us away, I'll have you shot!" He motioned to have her taken out of the room. * * * * * When she emerged from the headquarters building, Francine's mind still whirled. _Lies!_ she thought. _All lies!_ She felt the omnipresent sand grate under her feet. Dust hazed the concourse between her position on the steps and the spaceship a hundred yards away. The morning sun already had burned off the night chill of the desert. Heat devils danced over the dun surface of the ship. Francine ignored the security agent loitering a few steps behind her, glanced at her wristwatch: nine-twenty. _Hiko will be wondering what's happened to me_, she thought. _We were supposed to get started by eight._ Hopelessness gripped her mind. The spaceship looming over the end of the concourse appeared like a malignant growth--an evil thing crouched ready to envelope and smother her. _Could that fool general be right?_ The thought came to her mind unbidden. She shook her head. _No! He was lying! But why did he want me to...._ Delayed realization broke off the thought. _They wanted me to take a small bomb inside the ship, but there was no mention of my escaping! I'd have had to stay with the cart and the bomb to allay suspicions. My God! Those beasts expected me to commit suicide for them! They wanted me to blame the Galactics for Bob's death! They tried to build a lie in my mind until I'd fall in with their plan. It's hard enough to die for an ideal, but to give up your life for a lie...._ Anger coursed through her. She stopped on the steps, stood there shivering. A new feeling of futility replaced the anger. Tears blurred her vision. _What can one lone woman do against such ruthless schemers?_