"Oh?"
"You always said you hoped eventually they'd make intravenous intake universally applicable." She studied her husband intently. "Lester, what's happened?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all." Lester carelessly took his pipe out and lit it rapidly, somewhat awkwardly. Bits of tobacco drifted to the rug. He bent nervously down and tried to pick them up again. "Please go about your tasks and don't mind me. Perhaps I can help you prepare -- that is, can I do anything to help?"
anything to help?"
"Work?"
"Your research. In toxins."
"Toxins!" Lester showed confusion. "Well, for heaven's sake! Toxins. Devil take it!"
"What dear?"
"I mean, I really feel too tired, just now. I'll work later." Lester moved vaguely around the room. "I think I'll sit and enjoy being home again. Off that awful Rexor IV."
"Was it awful?"
"Horrible." A spasm of disgust crossed Lester's face. "Dry and dead. Ancient. Squeezed to a pulp by wind and sun. A dreadful place, my dear."
"I'm sorry to hear that. I always wanted to visit it."
"Heaven forbid!" Lester cried feelingly. "You stay right here, my dear. With me. The -- the two of us." His eyes wandered around the room. "Two, yes. Terra is a wonderful planet. Moist and full of life." He beamed happily. "Just right."
"I don't understand it," Jill said.
"Repeat all the things you remember," Frank said. His robot pencil poised itself alertly. "The changes you've noticed in him. I'm curious."
"Why?"
"No reason. Go on. You say you sensed it right away? That he was different?"
"I noticed it at once. The expression on his face. Not that hard, practical look. A sort of mellow look. Relaxed. Tolerant. A sort of calmness."
"I see," Frank said. "What else?"
Jill peered nervously through the back door into the house. "He can't hear us, can he?"
"No. He's inside playing with Gus. In the living-room. They're Venusian otter-men today. Your husband built an otter slide down at his lab. I saw him unwrapping it."
"His talk."
"His what?"
The way he talks. His choice of words. Words he never used before. Whole new phrases. Metaphors. I never heard him use a metaphor in all our five years together. He said metaphors were inexact. Misleading. And --"
"And what?" The pencil scratched busily.
"And they're strange words. Old words. Words you don't hear any more."
"Archaic phraseology?" Frank asked tensely.
"Yes." Jill paced back and forth across the small lawn, her hands in the pockets of her plastic shorts. "Formal words. Like something --"
"Something out of a book?"
"Exactly! You've noticed it?"
"I noticed it." Frank's face was grim. "Go on."
Jill stopped pacing. "What's on your mind? Do you have a theory?"
"I want to know more facts."
She reflected. "He plays. With Gus. He plays and jokes. And he -- he eats."
"Didn't he eat before?"
"Not like he does now. Now he loves food. He goes into the kitchen and tries endless combinations. He and the stove get together and cook up all sorts of weird things."
"I thought he'd put on weight."
"He's gained ten pounds. He eats, smiles and laughs. He's constantly polite." Jill glanced away coyly. "He's even -- romantic! He always said that was irrational. And he's not interested in his work. His research in toxins."
"I see." Frank chewed his lip. "Anything more?"
"One thing puzzles me very much. I've noticed it again and again."
"One thing puzzles me very much. I've noticed it again and again."
"He seems to have strange lapses of --"
A burst of laughter. Lester Herrick, eyes bright with merriment, came rushing out of the house, little Gus close behind.
"We have an announcement!" Lester cried.
"An announzelmen," Gus echoed.
Frank folded his notes up and slid them into his coat pocket. The pencil hurried after them. He got slowly to his feet. "What is it?"
"You make it," Lester said, taking little Gus's hand and leading him forward.
Gus's plump face screwed up in concentration. "I'm going to come live with you," he stated. Anxiously he watched Jill's expression. "Lester says I can. Can I? Can I, Aunt Jill?"
Her heart flooded with incredible joy. She glanced from Gus to Lester. "Do you -- do you really mean it?" Her voice was almost inaudible.
Lester put his arm around her, holding her close to him. "Of course, we mean it," he said gently. His eyes were warm and understanding. "We wouldn't tease you, my dear."
"No teasing!" Gus shouted excitedly. "No more teasing!" He and Lester and Jill drew close together. "Never again!"
Frank stood a little way off, his face grim. Jill noticed him and broke away abruptly. "What is it?" she faltered. "Is anything --"
"When you're quite finished," Frank said to Lester Herrick, "I'd like you to come with me."
A chill clutched Jill's heart. "What is it? Can I come, too?"
Frank shook his head. He moved toward Lester ominously. "Come on, Herrick. Let's go. You and I are going to take a little trip."
The three Federal Clearance Agents took up positions a few feet from Lester Herrick, vibro-tubes gripped alertly.
Clearance Director Douglas studied Herrick for a long time. "You're sure?" he said finally.
"Absolutely," Frank stated.
"When did he get back from Rexor IV?"
"A week ago."
"And the change was noticeable at once?"
"His wife noticed it as soon as she saw him. There's no doubt it occurred on Rexor." Frank paused significantly. "And you know what that means."
"I know." Douglas walked slowly around the seated man, examining him from every angle.
Lester Herrick sat quietly, his coat neatly folded across his knee. He rested his hands on his ivory-topped cane, his face calm and expressionless. He wore a soft gray suit, a subdued necktie, French cuffs, and shiny black shoes. He said nothing.
"Their methods are simple and exact," Douglas said. "The original psychic contents are removed and stored -- in some sort of suspension. The interjection of the substitute contents is instantaneous. Lester Herrick was probably poking around the Rexor city ruins, ignoring the safety precautions -- shield or manual screen -- and they got him."
The seated man stirred. "I'd like very much to communicate with Jill," he murmured. "She surely is becoming anxious."
Frank turned away, face choked with revulsion. "God. It's still pretending."
Director Douglas restrained himself with the greatest effort. "It's certainly an amazing thing. No physical changes. You could look at it and never know." He moved toward the seated man, his face hard. "Listen to me, whatever you call yourself. Can you understand what I say?"
"Of course," Lester Herrick answered.
"Did you really think you'd get away with it? We caught the others -- the ones before you. All ten of them. Even before they got here." Douglas grinned coldly. "Vibro-rayed them one after another."
The color left Lester Herrick's face. Sweat came out on his forehead. He wiped it away with a silk handkerchief from his breast pocket. "Oh?" he murmured.
The color left Lester Herrick's face. Sweat came out on his forehead. He wiped it away with a silk handkerchief from his breast pocket. "Oh?" he murmured.
"Herrick had a private ship," the seated man murmured. "He bypassed the check station going in. No record of his arrival existed. He was never checked."