ed up the receiver and looked at Brock's face in the screen. He
didn't even give me a chance to talk. "What are you trying to do?" he
shouted explosively.

"Trying to find Jaqueline Ravenhurst," I said, as calmly as I could.

"Oak, you're a maniac! Why, by this time, it's all over Ceres that the
boss' daughter is missing! Shalimar Ravenhurst will have your hide for
this!"

"He will?" I gave him Number 2--the wide-eyed innocent stare. "Why?"

"Why, you idiot, I thought you had sense enough to know that this
should be kept quiet! She's pulled this stunt before, and we always
managed to quiet things down before anything happened! We've managed
to keep everything under cover and out of the public eye ever since
she was fifteen, and now you blow it all up out of proportion and
create a furore that won't ever be forgotten!"

He gave his speech as though it had been written for him in full caps,
with three exclamation points after every sentence, and added gestures
and grimaces after every word.

"Just doing what I thought was best," I said. "I want to find her as
soon as possible."

"Well, stop it! Now! Let us handle it from here on in!"

Then I lowered the boom. "Now _you_ listen, Brock. I am in charge of
Jack Ravenhurst, not you. I've lost her, and I'll find her. I'll
welcome your co-operation, and I'd hate to have to fight you, but if
you don't like the way I'm handling it, you can just tell your boys to
go back to their regular work and let me handle it alone, without
interference. Now, which'll it be?"

He opened his mouth, closed it, and blew out his breath from between
his lips. Then he said: "All right. The damage has been done, anyhow.
But don't think I won't report all this to Ravenhurst as soon as I can
get a beam to Raven's Rest."

"That's your job and your worry, not mine. Now, have you got any
leads?"

"None," he admitted.

"Then I'll go out and dig up some. I'll let you know if I need you."
And I cut off.

Dr. Perelson was sitting on his couch, with an expression that
indicated that the pH of his saliva was hovering around one point
five.

I said, "That will be all, Dr. Perelson. Thank you for your
co-operation." And I walked out into the corridor, leaving him with a
baffled look.

* * * * *

At the next public phone, I dialed the BANning number again.

"Any news?"

"Not from her; she hasn't reported in at all."

"I didn't figure she would. What else?"