no gentleman would
use. "You say we do not realize the gravity of the situation. Perhaps we
realize it far more than you do. It may be that your activities have
been indirectly curtailed because you have not recognized the vital need
of harmony in government."

"Are you telling me Crane's ego is still smarting?"

"_Senator_ Crane did, in the spirit of co-operation, mention certain
leaks in your department."

"What in hell are you talking about?"

"I'd watch my tone if I were you, Taber. You aren't talking to one of
your legmen now!"

Taber's teeth came tight together. "I'm sorry. Let me repeat the
question. Exactly what was the nature of the leak to which the Senator
referred?"

"A tape--transcribed at one of your top-secret meetings."

Taber's fist closed and opened. "I guess maybe I have been lax," he said
softly.

Porter, grimly happy to have made his point, went on. "As to policy up
above, I'll be quite frank. We have not necessarily gone along with your
theory that the so-called androids were from outer space."

"Then where do you think they originated?"

"We have put data into the calculators on that point. So far, the
results have been inconclusive."

"That's too bad."

"Your sarcasm is uncalled for. I am quite willing to tell you, however,
that we have been proceeding in the matter. You are aware, no doubt, of
the recent space shot that ended disastrously?"

"Who isn't?"

Still insistent upon treating Taber like a backward child, Porter said,
"The missile was safely launched and made five orbits and then suffered
destruction."

"There was a lot of newspaper copy written on the failure; a lot of
questions asked as to the cause."

"The releases were entirely true," Porter said with prim severity.
"There was malfunction of crucial units under stress. But another phase
was not made public. The astronaut's mission--one of them, at least--was
to hunt outer space for foreign bodies of any description."

"What did he report?"

"Nothing."

"I recall a story printed by some Washington columnist that some of the
code picked up from the missile was not translated for the press. This,
he stated, in view of the Administration's current 'Open End' policy on
such matters, was strange."

"If you're implying that we censored certain information, that's quite
true. In the public interest."

"To keep scientific information out of Russian hands?"

"In this case, no. The astronaut fell victim to a psych