but then a breeze moved across the lake,
crinkling the surface of the water, and as it touched the opposite
shore, abrupt panic exploded among the grazers. They wheeled, went
flashing away in effortless twenty-foot strides, and were gone among
the trees.

Telzey felt a crawling along her spine. It was the first objective
indication she'd had of the nature of the company she had brought to
the lake, and while it hardly came as a surprise, for a moment her
urge was to follow the example of the grazers.

"Tick-Tock?" she whispered, suddenly a little short of breath.

A single up-and-down purring note replied from the bushes on her
right. TT was still around, for whatever good that might do. Not too
much, Telzey thought, if it came to serious trouble. But the knowledge
was somewhat reassuring ... and this, meanwhile, appeared to be as far
as she needed to get from the guest house. They'd be looking for her
by aircar presently, but there was nothing to tell them in which
direction to turn first.

She climbed the bank of the lake to a point where she was screened
both by thick, green shrubbery and the top of a single immense tree
from the sky, sat down on some dry, mossy growth, took the law library
from her belt, opened it and placed it in her lap. Vague stirrings
indicated that her escort was also settling down in an irregular
circle about her; and apprehension shivered on Telzey's skin again. It
wasn't that their attitude was hostile; they were simply overawing.
And no one could predict what they might do next. Without looking up,
she asked a question in her mind.

"Ready?"

* * * * *

[Illustration]

Sense of multiple acknowledgment, variously tinged--sardonic;
interestingly amused; attentive; doubtful. Impatience quivered through
it too, only tentatively held in restraint, and Telzey's forehead was
suddenly wet. Some of them seemed on the verge of expressing
disapproval with what was being done here--

Her fingers quickly flicked in the index tape, and the stir of feeling
about her subsided, their attention captured again for the moment. Her
thoughts became to some degree detached, ready to dissect another
problem in the familiar ways and present the answers to it. Not a very
involved problem essentially, but this time it wasn't a school
exercise. Her company waited, withdrawn, silent, aloof once more,
while the index blurred, checked, blurred and checked. Within a minute
and