"Commander, Xeelee construction plate isn't tissue paper. You can't just cut a hole in it."

"I know that. So it seems to me that Paul here -- with his proven non-local perception abilities -- is our best hope of getting some hard data." He winked at Paul. "What I fail to see is what threat Paul represents to you."

Taft stared at Paul. Well light glittered over his metal Eyes, and again Paul was flooded with a nameless fear. "I won't discuss this in front of the boy," Taft said.

Paul worked to keep his voice level. "I'd like to hear what you have to say. And I'm not a boy, Doctor. Physically I'm twenty years old."

Green grinned, showing even teeth. "Good for you."

"Damn it, Green, we don't know anything about this -- boy -- of yours. He's found in a fouled, ill-fitting pressure suit on the exposed Face at the edge of the City. Nobody knows who he is, or how he got there -- including Paul himself, so he says--"

"His amnesia is genuine," Green broke in. "And as to how he got to the Lump -- Taft, have you ever traveled on a Spline ship?"

Taft glared at him. "Do I look like a Navy goon?"

"A Spline warship," Green said patiently, "is a living creature. A sphere miles across. Its human crew occupy chambers hollowed out of the stomach lining. A Spline ship is a big, complex, disorderly place. If Paul was a stowaway he won't have been the first--"

"He's an unknown," Taft insisted. "And by introducing him into this situation we incur an unknown risk."

"But what's beyond question is his bizarre, quantum-mechanical perceptive faculty. He represents an enormous opportunity."

Taft folded his arms and stared into the light well. "Suppose I refuse to cooperate?"

"I have sufficient authority to force you, frankly," Green said quietly. "Officially this is a war zone."

"I'll go over your head."

"I could have you arrested. Requisition your staff. Doctor, you haven't much choice."

Slowly, Taft nodded. "You're right, Commander. I don't have any choice. For the present." And he shot another savage metallic glance at Paul.

"I'm glad we agree," Green said dryly. "Now, I believe you've a plan to have Paul taken to an Edge. That seems a good idea."

Taft nodded reluctantly. "And if necessary we could go on to a Corner Mountain."

"We?" Green asked suspiciously.

Taft indicated the construction site a few yards away. The four workmen had gathered around a machine which had shattered a nozzle against a stubborn lump of rock. "You can see how busy we are," Taft said. "I'm not going to sacrifice my schedules for this -- venture. I'll accompany the boy myself."

The four workers sang softly as they hauled at the broken nozzle. Paul strained to hear their words, struck by an unaccountable feeling of significance.

Green said carefully: "Of course I'll escort you both."

"As you wish."

"Well, shall we start?"