rief. And
in a different handwriting.

_Captain Kurkowski died today, of poisoning following an insect
bite. His death is greatly mourned._

The "why" of the planetary revulsion had yet to be uncovered.

"Kerk must see this book," Jason said. "He should have some idea of the
progress being made. Can we get transportation--or do we walk to city
hall?"

"Walk, of course," Meta said.

"Then you bring the book. At two G's I find it very hard to be a
gentleman and carry the packages."

They had just entered Kerk's outer office when a shrill screaming burst
out of the phone-screen. It took Jason a moment to realize that it was a
mechanical signal, not a human voice.

"What is it?" he asked.

Kerk burst through the door and headed for the street entrance. Everyone
else in the office was going the same way. Meta looked confused, leaning
towards the door, then looking back at Jason.

"What does it mean? Can't you tell me?" He shook her arm.

"Sector alarm. A major breakthrough of some kind at the perimeter.
Everyone but other perimeter guards has to answer."

"Well, go then," he said. "Don't worry about me. I'll be all right."

His words acted like a trigger release. Meta's gun was in her hand and
she was gone before he had finished speaking. Jason sat down wearily in
the deserted office.

The unnatural silence in the building began to get on his nerves. He
shifted his chair over to the phone-screen and switched it on to
_receive_. The screen exploded with color and sound. At first Jason
could make no sense of it at all. Just a confused jumble of faces and
voices. It was a multi-channel set designed for military use. A number
of images were carried on the screen at one time, rows of heads or hazy
backgrounds where the user had left the field of view. Many of the heads
were talking at the same time and the babble of their voices made no
sense whatsoever.

After examining the controls and making a few experiments, Jason began
to understand the operation. Though all stations were on the screen at
all times, their audio channels could be controlled. In that way two,
three or more stations could be hooked together in a link-up. They would
be in round-robin communication with each other, yet never out of
contact with the other stations.

Identification between voice and sound was automatic. Whenever one of
the pictured images spoke, the image would glow red. By trial and error
Jason brought in the audio for