Since the meeting with Rijseen and his two companions he’d found that tighter blocks had been placed on certain channels of inquiry. Nothing had been said about it and the computer had been programmed to be evasive rather than specific, but he recognized the establishment of channel locks.

He’d discovered the other almost on a whim, in a moment of boredom. It presented a challenge and he attacked it more for the entertainment it offered than out of any desire or need to know its contents. They had turned out to be something other than entertaining, however.

“I was working here several days ago,” he explained to them, sliding into the saddle, “trying to research your contacts with other life.”

“I thought you were an agricultural specialist,” Bonnie said, staring over his shoulder as the screen ran information.

“So I am, but the question of other intelligences has intrigued me since larvahood. If it were not for that I doubt we three would ever have met.”

“That would have been a loss,” Loo said with a smile.

“Yes.” Ryo worked the keyboard with two hands. In addition to the central screen the two peripherals on its right promptly winked to life. Patterns flashed across the glass. “It was while hunting for evidence of such contacts that I stumbled into a block. I’m used to that now. Normally I file their location and ignore them. That is the polite thing to do, since your superiors evidently feel there is certain material I should not have access to.”

Both humans looked a little uncomfortable despite Ryo’s admission that such blocks did not bother him.

“We have no control over such matters,” Bonnie said finally.

“I am aware of that. I was not accusing you. This block, however, tempted me to try to circumvent it, since it concealed information of particular relevance to me. I have come to believe the block was placed not specifically against me but to prevent general access by the majority of the staff at this station.

“In my years as member of my Company’s local council I have had ample opportunity to make use of information-retrieval technology. Though your system differs from ours, I have applied myself both on the Seeker and while here, and have succeeded in learning a great deal. Also, Thranx are naturally proficient at logic and aesthetic inference.

“Briefly then, I managed to bypass the block that had been placed on this particular line of questioning. I was in fact surprised that a stronger block had not been placed on it. Sometimes in their eagerness to conceal vital information bureaucrats may overlook the trivial.”

He returned to the console and his fingers moved across the keys. The flow of information on the three screens slowed, stabilized. The words MAXECRET—ALIEN CONTACT and THRANX appeared. Demand was made for a second input, which Ryo supplied.