flected; his memory was pretty good.

Burris had been the first speaker on the tapes, and he'd given the
serial and reference number in a cold, matter-of-fact voice. His face
had been perfectly blank, and he looked just like the head of the FBI
people were accustomed to seeing on their TV and newsreel screens.
Malone wondered what had happened to him between the time the tapes had
been made and the time he'd sent for Malone.

Maybe the whole notion of telepathy was beginning to get him, Malone
thought.

Burris recited the standard tape opening in a rapid mumble: "Any person
or agent unauthorized for this tape please refrain from viewing further,
under penalties as prescribed by law." Then he looked off, out past the
screen to the left, and said: "Dr. Thomas O'Connor, of Westinghouse
Laboratories. Will you come here, Dr. O'Connor?"

Dr. O'Connor came into the lighted square of screen slowly, looking all
around him. "This is very fascinating," he said, blinking in the
lamplight. "I hadn't realized that you people took so many
precautions--"

He was, Malone thought, somewhere between fifty and sixty, tall and thin
with skin so transparent that he nearly looked like a living X ray. He
had pale blue eyes and pale white hair and, Malone thought, if there
ever were a contest for the best-looking ghost, Dr. Thomas O'Connor
would win it hands--or phalanges--down.

"This is all necessary for the national security," Burris said, a little
sternly.

"Oh," Dr. O'Connor said quickly, "I realize that, of course. Naturally.
I can certainly see that."

"Let's go ahead, shall we?" Burris said.

O'Connor nodded. "Certainly. Certainly."

Burris said: "Well, then," and paused. After a second he started again:
"Now, Dr. O'Connor, would you please give us a sort of verbal run-down
on this for our records?"

"Of course," Dr. O'Connor said. He smiled into the video cameras and
cleared his throat. "I take it you don't want an explanation of how
this machine works. I mean: you don't want a technical exposition, do
you?"

"No," Burris said, and added: "Not by any means. Just tell us what it
does."

* * * * *

Dr. O'Connor suddenly reminded Malone of a professor he'd had in college
for one of the law courses. He had, Malone thought, the same smiling
gravity of demeanor, the same condescending attitude of absolute
authority. It was clear that Dr. O'Connor lived in a world of his own, a
world that was