was not Rose Thompson speaking. It was Queen Elizabeth
I, who had never died.

"That's right, Sir Kenneth," she said kindly. "And in that hospital,
there were a number of times when I wanted one of the doctors or
nurses to do what I wanted them to. I tried many times, but I never
succeeded."

Boyd nodded his head. "Well--" he began.

"Oh, yes, Sir Thomas," Her Majesty said. "What you're thinking is
certainly possible. It may even be true."

"What _is_ he thinking?" Malone said.

"He thinks," Her Majesty said, "that I may not have the talent for
this particular effect--and perhaps I don't. But, talent or not, I
know what's possible and what isn't. And the way Mr. Taylor describes
it is simply silly, that's all. And unladylike. Imagine any
self-respecting lady 'squirting' her thoughts about in space!"

"Well," Malone said carefully, "aside from its being unladylike--"

"Sir Kenneth," Her Majesty said, "you are not telepathic. Neither is
Sir Thomas."

"I'm nothing," Boyd said. "I don't even exist."

"And it is very difficult to explain to the nontelepath just what Mr.
Taylor is implying," Her Majesty went on imperturbably. "Before you
could inject any thoughts into anyone else's mind, you'd have to be
able to see into that mind. Is that correct?"

[Illustration]

"I guess so," Malone said.

"And in order to do that, you'd have to be telepathic," Her Majesty
said. "Am I correct?"

"Correct," Malone said.

"Well, then," Her Majesty said with satisfaction, and beamed at him.

A second passed.

"Well, then, what?" Malone said in confusion.

"Telepathy," Her Majesty said patiently, "is an extremely complex
affair. It involves a sort of meshing with the mind of this other
person. It has nothing--absolutely nothing--in common with this simple
'squirting' of thoughts across space, as if they were orange pips you
were trying to put into a wastebasket. No, Sir Kenneth, I cannot
believe in what Mr. Taylor says."

"But it's still possible," Malone said.

"Oh," Her Majesty said, "it's certainly possible. But I should think
that if any telepaths were around, and if they were changing people's
minds by 'squirting' at them, I would know it."

Malone frowned. "Maybe you would at that," he said. "I guess you
would."

"Not to mention," Boyd put in, "that if you were going to control
everything we've come across like that you'd need an awful lot of
telepathic operators."

"That's true," Malone admitted. "And th