k is, have
you seen any evidence of creative thought, organized thought, or is he
just--integrating, along the lines of--of instinctive responses? Do
you--"

"I know what you mean. Shut up a minute.... I don't know."

"I mean is he awake, or asleep and dreaming about us, like the Red
King?"

"I don't _know_!"

"And if that's it, what'll happen when he wakes up?"

Moira took off her robe, folded it neatly, and maneuvered herself
between the sheets. "Come to bed."

Len got one sock off before another thought struck him. "He reads your
mind. Can he read other people's?" He looked appalled. "Can he read
mine?"

"He doesn't. Whether it's because he can't, I don't know. I think he
just doesn't care."

Len pulled the other sock halfway down and left it there. In a stiffer
tone, he said, "One of the things he doesn't care about is whether I
have a job."

"No. He thought it was funny. I wanted to sink through the floor, but
I had all I could do to keep from laughing when she fell down.... Len,
what are we going to do?"

He swiveled around and looked at her.

"Look," he said, "I didn't mean to sound that gloomy. We'll do
something. We'll fix it. Really."

"I hope so."

Careful of his elbows and knees, Len climbed into the bed beside her.
"Okay now?"

"Mm.... Ugh." Moira tried to sit up suddenly, and almost made it. She
wound up propped on one elbow, and said indignantly, "Oh, no!"

Len stared at her in the dimness. "What--?"

She grunted again. "Len, get up. All _right_. Len, _hurry_!"

Len fought his way convulsively past a treacherous sheet and staggered
up, goose-pimpled and tense. "What's wrong?"

"You'll have to sleep on the couch. The sheets are in the bottom--"

"On that couch? Are you crazy?"

"I can't help it," she said in a small faint voice. "Please don't
let's argue. You'll just have to."

"_Why?_"

"We can't sleep in the same bed," she wailed. "He says
it's--oh!--unhygienic!"

* * * * *

Len's contract was not renewed. He got a job waiting on tables in a
resort hotel, an occupation which pays more money than teaching future
citizens the rudiments of three basic sciences, but for which Len had
no aptitude. He lasted three days at it; he was then idle for a week
and a half until his four years of college physics earned him
employment as a clerk in an electrical shop. His employer was a
cheerfully aggressive man who assured Len that there were great
oppo