supposed to be walking around loose."

"What about him?"

"Those bastards confiscated all my stuff. The shots I made in your
room--everything. But if I could get some shots of the other one--"

"You're actually going to work on your own? In spite of what Taber
said?"

"It's a free country," King retorted hotly. "I've got a right to follow
my profession. What I was going to say was that you're in a position to
help yourself a little, too."

"I am?"

"Only you and I know what we're looking for. If you spot the android,
see him hanging around anywhere, and let me know, I'll--"

"You can go to hell, King. I want no part of any more of your ideas.
I've had it. If I see the creature I'll call Taber and nobody else. I'm
going to do exactly what he told me to do. Mark me off your list."

Frank Corson strode away. Les King stood watching him. King shrugged.
Just another bewildered citizen who thought God lived in Washington.
Afraid to spit if some Washington bureaucrat wagged a finger.

Well, the hell with Corson. The hell with Taber. The hell with all of
them. If Les King stood to make an honest buck, he was going to do his
damnedest until somebody passed a law making it illegal.

6

Brent Taber was drawn to Doctor Entman. He found, in the ugly little
scientist, a rapport that seemed to exist nowhere else. At the moment,
Entman was having a fine, stimulating time dissecting the cadaver of the
android. His ugly little eyes were bright. "It's a miracle, my friend! A
positive miracle. The thing these people have been able to do!"

"People? You've used that word before."

Entman waved an impatient hand. "Oh, don't quibble! Why, the creation of
an artificial digestive system alone is awesome--not to mention the
creation of a synthetic brain."

"The brain is what interests me."

"I can hardly wait to get into that area. Certain aspects are obvious,
though. These creatures must have mental powers far beyond ours--in
certain areas, that is."

"Tell me more."

"That's merely a matter of logic. We know that _homo sapiens_--because
of his free choice, so to speak--uses, on an average, not more than a
tenth of his mental ability. All right. These people have created, to
all intents and purposes, a man. They surely had sense enough to remove
the free-choice element. The creature surely has judgment, even cunning,
but it is no doubt pointed totally and completely toward the objective
of its being."

"Whatever