"It's really too bad we can't work this sort of thing at a distance," Claerten's voice said suddenly. "But then, none of us has ever met the man, and you can't read a mind if you haven't had some physical contact with the man who owns it." "It is too bad," Jonas agreed politely. Five hundred miles away Claerten chuckled, and the linkage of minds transmitted the amusement to Jonas. "You don't think so, at any rate," the director said. "You're having adventures--and a fine time. It's the sort of thing you like, after all." Jonas shrugged mentally. "I suppose so," he said. "I like to work on my own, do my own job--" "And it's got you into trouble before," Claerten said. "But you can't afford any mistakes this time." "I know the risk perfectly well," Jonas thought back. Claerten's thought carried a wry echo. "You know the risk to yourself," he told Jonas, "and you've accepted that. You rather like it, as a matter of fact. But you haven't thought of the risk to the rest of us--and to the town you're in." Jonas sent a thought of uncertainty: "What?" Claerten transmitted the entire picture in one sudden blow: the chance that Jonas would not be killed immediately, but would be discovered; the chance that the Inquisitor would get from him the secret of the Brotherhood-- "That's impossible," Jonas said. Claerten sounded resigned. "Nothing's impossible," he said. "And if the secret is let out--why, the Brotherhood is finished. Finished before it's barely started. Because you can read a man's mind doesn't mean you can defeat him, Jonas." "But you know what he's going to do--" "And if he's got you in a wooden house and he's going to burn it down, what good does your knowledge do you?" "But you can transmit false thoughts--" "And confuse him," Claerten said. "Fine. Fine. If you've ever met the man before. And suppose you haven't? Then you can't transmit a thing to him; you're trapped in the house, remember, and the fire's started. What good's your telepathy?" "But--" "It's a sense," Claerten said. "Like any other sense. But it isn't magic any more than your eyes are magic. They're ... given by God, if you like; they grow, they develop. So the ability to read minds, to transmit thought is given by God. No one knows why or how. Fifteen of us have developed it; fifteen who are members of the Brotherhood. But there are others--" "Of course," Jonas thought impatiently. "I know all that." "You know a great deal," Claerten said, "which I sometimes find it necessary to bring to your attention." "I've done all right," Jonas thought sullenly. Claerten agreed. "Of course you have," he thought, "but you're not the most careful of men; and great care is needed. The Brotherhood must grow. This new sense is of great value; perhaps we can learn to teach it to others in time, though we have had little success with that. But at the least we can maintain our numbers, pass the gift on to our children--" "If it is possible," Jonas said.