it happen to Dulaq?_ Leoh asked himself for the
thousandth time. It couldn't have been the machine's fault; it must
have been something in Odal's mind that simply overpowered Dulaq's.

_"Overpowered?" That's a terribly unscientific term_, Leoh argued
against himself.

Before he could carry the debate any further, he heard the main door
of the big chamber slide open and then bang shut, and Hector's off-key
whistle shrilled and echoed through the high-vaulted room.

Leoh sighed and put his self-contained argument off to the back of his
mind. Trying to think logically near Hector was a hopeless prospect.

"Are you in, doctor?" Hector's voice rang out.

"In here."

Hector ducked in through the doorway and plopped his rangy frame on
the office's couch.

"Everything going well, sir?"

Leoh shrugged. "Not very well, I'm afraid. I can't find anything wrong
with the dueling machine. I can't even _force_ it to malfunction."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Hector chirped happily.

"In a sense," Leoh admitted, feeling slightly nettled at the youth's
boundless, pointless optimism. "But, you see, it means that Kanus'
people can do things with the machine that I can't."

Hector frowned, considering the problem. "Hm-m-m ... yes, I guess
that's right, too, isn't it?"

"Did you see the girl back to her ship safely?" Leoh asked.

"Yes, sir," Hector replied, bobbing his head vigorously. "She's on her
way back to the communications booth at the space station. She said to
tell you she enjoyed her visit very much."

"Good. It was, eh, very good of you to escort her about the campus. It
kept her out of my hair ... what's left of it, that is."

Hector grinned. "Oh, I liked showing her around, and all that--And,
well, it sort of kept me out of your hair, too, didn't it?"

Leoh's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

Hector laughed. "Doctor, I may be clumsy, and I'm certainly no
scientist ... but I'm not completely brainless."

"I'm sorry if I gave you that impression--"

"Oh no ... don't be sorry. I didn't mean that to sound so ... well,
the way it sounded ... that is. I know I'm just in your way--" He
started to get up.

* * * * *

Leoh waved him back to the couch. "Relax, my boy, relax. You know,
I've been sitting here all afternoon wondering what to do next.
Somehow, just now, I came to a conclusion."

"Yes?"

"I'm going to leave the Acquataine Cluster and return to Carinae."

"What? But