rough with it," he muttered to himself.
"Got to."

As soon as he was dressed he took the tunnel cars to Station D-90,
changing twice. People were aboard at this hour, returning from the
evening. Lots of men and women in uniform: the green of the
landfighters, the white of the seamen, the blue of the flyers, the
silver and black of the space force. Young people. Kids mostly: kids who
had never seen war, smelled death, heard the wounded scream. He hoped
they never would. But if his hunch was correct they might be dangerously
near to it right now.

If only he had time to call Kronski. He'd feel a lot safer....

He shook himself. Have to stop thinking about it. Proceed cautiously
now, and take each thing as it came. That was the only thing to do.

He went topside and stepped from the elevator kiosk into the night air.
Ahead he saw the bright globular sign of the Stardust Cafe. But he
didn't go toward it right away. He turned in the other direction, walked
swiftly, and kept a sharp eye on the shadows. He turned off on a side
street, circled a small park, and then crossed a sloping lawn toward the
back of the night club. He headed for the light of the service entrance.

A half-credit bill got him inside through the back entrance. He found
the door with the temporary sign saying: Marco the Mentalist. He
knocked.

Marco the Mentalist opened the door. He didn't look quite as tall
face-to-face as he did out on the floor, nor quite as impressive. His
face was still dark and faintly saturnine, but the jowls seemed a little
puffier now, there was a faint network of capillaries around his
nostrils and his eyes looked just the least bit weary and tired. In a
pleasant enough voice he said, "Yes?"

Pell showed his C.I.B. identification.

Marco raised his eyebrows a little and said, "Come inside, please."
Inside he found a chair for Pell. He sat across from him at his dressing
table, half-turned toward the room. "I must get ready for my show in a
little while. You understand that, of course."

Pell nodded. "What's on my mind won't take long. First of all, I want to
ask a few questions about hypnotism. They may seem silly to you, or
maybe a little elementary, but I'd like you to answer 'em just the
same."

Marco's eyebrows went a little bit higher and he said, "Proceed."

"Okay. Question number one: can anybody be hypnotized against his will?"

"Some can, some can't." Marco smiled. "The average person, under average
circums