r attention.

As she switched off the viewer, Halet came wandering in from the
adjoining cabin.

"I was watching it, too!" Halet observed. She smiled. "I was hoping to
see dear Tick-Tock."

Telzey looked over at her. "Well, TT would hardly be likely to show up
in Port Nichay," she said. "She's having too good a time now finding
out what life in the Baluit range is like."

"I suppose so," Halet agreed doubtfully, sitting down on a hassock.
"But I'm glad she promised to get in touch with us again in a few
years. I'll miss her."

Telzey regarded her aunt with a reflective frown. Halet meant it quite
sincerely, of course, she had undergone a profound change of heart
during the past two weeks. But Telzey wasn't without some doubts about
the actual value of a change of heart brought on by telepathic means.
The learning process the crest cats had started in her mind appeared
to have continued automatically several days longer than her rugged
teachers had really intended; and Telzey had reason to believe that by
the end of that time she'd developed associated latent abilities of
which the crest cats had never heard. She'd barely begun to get it all
sorted out yet, but ... as an example ... she'd found it remarkably
easy to turn Halet's more obnoxious attitudes virtually upside down.
It had taken her a couple of days to get the hang of her aunt's
personal symbolism, but after that there had been no problem.

She was reasonably certain she'd broken no laws so far, though the
sections in the law library covering the use and abuse of psionic
abilities were veiled in such intricate and downright obscuring
phrasing--deliberately, Telzey suspected--that it was really difficult
to say what they did mean. But even aside from that, there were a
number of arguments in favor of exercising great caution.

Jessamine, for one thing, was bound to start worrying about her
sister-in-law's health if Halet turned up on Orado in her present
state of mind, even though it would make for a far more agreeable
atmosphere in the Amberdon household.

"Halet," Telzey inquired mentally, "do you remember what an all-out
stinker you used to be?"

"Of course, dear," Halet said aloud. "I can hardly wait to tell dear
Jessamine how much I regret the many times I...."

"Well," Telzey went on, still verbalizing it silently. "I think you'd
really enjoy life more if you were, let's say, about halfway between
your old nasty self and the sort of sickening-