Vernon had been looking
for them.

"Mr. Bellaver still prefers to have you alive," he said. "If you'll wait
quietly beside the skiff, we'll take you aboard."

Shearing gave him a hard answer.

"Very well," said Vernon. "Mr. Bellaver wants me to make it clear to you
that he doesn't intend for you to get away. So you can interpret that as
you please. Be seeing you."

He broke contact, knowing that Hyrst and Shearing would close him out.
From now on, Hyrst realized, he would keep track of them the way he and
Shearing had kept track of obstructions in the path of flight, by mental
"sight". The yacht was extremely close. Suddenly Hyrst had a confused
glimpse of a hand on a control-lever over-lapped by a view of the
black-mouthed tubes of the yacht's belly-jets. He dived, literally, into
a crack between one of the monoliths and a slab that leaned against its
base, dragging Shearing with him.

The yacht swept over. Nothing happened. It dropped out of sight, braking
for a landing.

"Imagination," said Shearing. "You realize a possibility, and you think
it's so. Tricky. But I don't blame you. The safe side is the best one."

Hyrst looked out the crack. One of the tugs was coming in to land beside
the skiff, while the other one circled.

"Now what?" he said. "I suppose we can dodge them for a while, but we
can't hide from Vernon."

Shearing chuckled. He had got his look of tough competence back. He
seemed almost to be enjoying himself. "I told you you were only a cub.
How do you suppose we've kept the starship hidden all these years?
Watch."

In the flick of a second Hyrst went blind and deaf. Then he realized
that it was only his mental eyes and ears that were blanked out as
though a curtain had been drawn across them. His physical eyes were
still clear and sharp, and when Shearing's voice came over the helmet
audio he heard it without trouble.

"This is called the cloak. I suppose you could call it an extension of
the shield, though it's more like a force field. It's no bar to physical
vision, and it has the one great disadvantage of being opaque both ways
to mental energy. But it does act as a deflector. If Vernon follows us
now, he'll have to do it the hard way. Stick close by me, so I don't
have too wide a spread. And it'll be up to you to lead. I can't do both.
Let's go."

Hyrst had, unconsciously, become so used to his new perceptions that it
made him feel dull and helpless to be without them. He led off d