phenomenon that first broke the ice.

The girl with the decorated scalp had been glancing questioningly at
neighbor after neighbor, only to be met by uncompromising stares.
Finally, however, her gaze met another, as interested as her own. This
second girl, whose coiffure was a high-piled confection of black, white,
yellow, red, blue, and green, half-masted her screen and said:

"Oh, thanks, Jethay of Lodie-Yann. I'm glad everybody isn't going to
stay locked up all day. I'm Ginseona of Pasquerone. They call me 'Jin'
whenever they want to call me anything printable. And _this_," she dug a
knuckle into her companion's short ribs, whereupon he jumped, whirled
around, lowered his screen, and grinned, "is my ... the boy friend,
Parleof. Also of Pasquerone, of course. Par, both Jethay and I...."

"Call me 'Jet'--everybody does," Jethay said: almost shyly, for a Prime.

"Both Jet and I have been wondering about that woman's hair--over there.
How could you _possibly_ give a head of hair a static charge of fifty or
a hundred kilovolts and not have it leak off?"

"You couldn't, unless it was a perfectly-insulated wig ... but it looks
as though she did, at that...." and Parleof paused in thought.

"Maybe Byuk would have an idea or two," and Jet uttered aloud a dozen or
so crackling syllables that sounded as though they could have been
ladylike profanity. Whatever they were, Byuk jumped, too, and tuned in
with the other three.

"Oh, it's quite easy, really," Therea said then. "Look." Her mass of
hair cascaded gracefully down around her neck and shoulders. "Look
again." Each hair stood fiercely out all by itself, exactly as before.
"All you young people will learn much more difficult and much more
important things before this meeting is over. I cannot tell you how glad
I am that so many of you are here."

* * *

And so it went, all over the auditorium. Once cracked, the ice broke up
fast.

Fao and Delcamp worked hard; so did Belle and Garlock. Alsyne was a
potent force indeed--his abounding vitality and his tremendous smile
broke down barriers that logic could not affect. And Therea worked
near-miracles; did more than the other five combined. Her sympathy, her
empathy, her understanding and feeling, were as great as Lola's own; her
operative ability was as much greater than Lola's as Lola's was greater
than that of a bobby-soxed babysitter.

Thus, when half of the hour was gone, Garlock heaved