* * * * *

The Security Officer's mouth tightened into a thin, grim line. "A
major lapse of security," he snapped. "I'll check into this very
thoroughly."

"Will you remove the trap?" George asked.

"I can't, until you're cleared," the Security Officer said, shaking
his head. "I certainly won't authorize any action that could be later
construed as aiding the entrance of spies or subversives into the
plant."

"How old are you?" the Administrative Officer asked George.

"Fifty-six days," George replied without hesitation.

"Under twelve years," the Administrative Officer pointed out to the
Security Officer. "No clearance required."

"I don't know," the Security Officer said, shaking his head. "There's
no precedent for a case like this. I'll be damned if I'll stick my
neck out and have that trap removed. I know, I'll send a request for
an advisory opinion." He turned and walked toward the door.

"What should I tell my wife?" George called after him.

"Tell her that I'm asking the A.E.C. for an opinion, with carbon
copies to the Defense Dept. and the F.B.I."

"Don't forget Immigration & Naturalization," the Administrative
Officer said. "There might be a question of citizenship."

"The hell there is," George said. "_Lex locis_--I was born here."

"Well," the Security Officer said as he walked out, "one can't be too
careful."

So, George went and told his wife and, the next morning, he was on the
train for Washington. Being telepathic, as all this generation of mice
were, he already had contacted some mice who had an 'in' in the
government buildings.

All the way down on the train, he worried about chasing all those
carbons in the bureaucratic maze of Washington, but he needn't have.

As soon as the Security Officer's report was received, the A.E.C. sent
a battery of psychiatrists to the plant. After the psychiatrists
reported, they, in turn, were sent to another battery of
psychiatrists. After that, the A.E.C. called a top-level conference of
the Defense Dept., F.B.I. (Dept. Just.), Fish & Wildlife (Dept. Int.),
Public Health (Dept. Welf.), Immigration & Naturalization and Alaskan
Affairs. The latter turned out to be a mistake.

* * * * *

This had taken two weeks, and George had lingered in the walls,
impatiently waiting for his chance to testify. Of course, he was in
telepathic communication with Clara. He knew that his family were all
well,