to drug the whole lot?"

"No, definitely not the last," and for the first time Thornberry was
being positive, "because we have to use a massive dose and they can't
shake it till--day after tomorrow, at the best tomorrow afternoon."

"The Army can decide to hypno in two minutes with a spin-dizzy wheel
and some lights. How long for you?"

Thornberry bridled. "The same, especially if _I_ do it."

"Good. So now you need a doctor to drug the ones who need it, a
psychologist to decide who gets what, one machine moved and one
technician." Bennington snapped on his intercom, said to his
secretary, "Get Judkins in here."

"Yes, _sir_!"

_The word seems to be getting around_, Bennington decided, _but this
will take a moment_.

* * * * *

He started on his next problem. "Have you ever inspected the prison
grounds at night?"

"No, sir! That is Slater's duty!"

Thornberry was again the proper bureaucrat, horrified at the thought
of invading another's domain.

"Judkins here," came from the intercom.

"Bennington speaking. You know the corridor between the reception and
interview rooms in The Cage?"

"Yes, sir."

"Get your equipment over close to there. We have a group of prisoners
arriving around 1530, too late for complete processing. But at least
you can condition them against escape."

The intercom was silent a moment, then, "But how will I know who I'm
working on?"

Bennington questioned Thornberry with a raised eyebrow.

The psych-expert shook his head, no.

"This time you don't need to know," Bennington said. "Get your
equipment set up and report to me when it's ready."

Another long silence, then, "Yes, sir."

"He should know who he has under the hood," Thornberry said
thoughtfully, after Bennington had silenced the intercom, "especially
since the group includes a man like Dalton--"

"We have something more important to discuss," Bennington cut in,
dismissing the subject. "Last night I inspected the prison compound."

He described what he had found, then leaned back to hear Thornberry's
reaction.

"That's not in the least what I told him he could do," the
psychologist said.

"_What! This is your idea?_"

Thornberry was equally astounded at Bennington's reaction. "Yes, of
course. As soon as I took over as Acting Warden, I told Slater that
social visits between the prisoners were entirely permissible until
Lights Out. But this--"

The psychologist shook his head