I could on her. The First Lady
stacks up as a tough cookie! Also smart. Most of those Ermetynes wind up
being dead-brained by some loving relative, and apparently they have to
know how to whip up a sharp brew of poison before they're let into
kindergarten. Lyad's been top dog among them since she was eighteen--"

His head turned. A bell had begun pinging in the next room. He stood up.

"Probably Mantelish's outfit on the transmitter," he said. "I told them
to call as soon as they located him." He stopped at the door. "Care for
a drink, Trigger girl? You know where the stuff is."

"Not just now, thanks."

The Commissioner came back in a couple of minutes. "Darn fool got lost
in a swamp! They found him finally, but he's too tired to come over
now."

He sat down and scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Do you remember the
time you passed out on the Harvest Moon?" he asked.

Trigger looked at him, puzzled. "The time I what?"

"Passed out. Fainted. Went out cold."

"I? You're out of your mind, Holati! I never fainted in my life."

"Reason I asked," he said, "is that I've been told a spell in a rest
cubicle--same thing as a rest cubicle anyway, only it's used for
therapy--sometimes resolves amnesias."

"Amnesias! What _are_ you talking about?"

The Commissioner said. "I'm talking about you. This is bound to be a
jolt, Trigger girl. Might have been easier after a drink. But I'll just
give it to you straight. About a week after Mantelish and his U-League
crew first arrived here, you did pass out on one occasion while we were
on the Harvest Moon with them. And afterwards you didn't remember doing
it."

"I didn't?" Trigger said weakly.

"No. I thought it might have cleared up, and you just had some reason
for not wanting to mention it." He got to his feet. "Like that drink
now--before I go on with the details?"

She nodded.

17

Holati Tate brought her the drink and went on with the details.

Trigger and he and a dozen or so of the first group of U-League
investigators had been in what was now designated as Section 52 of
Harvest Moon. The Commissioner was by himself, checking over some
equipment which had been installed in one of the compartments. After a
while Doctor Azol joined him and told him Mantelish and the others had
gone on to another section. Holati and Azol finished the check-up
together and were about to leave the area to catch up with the group,
when Holati saw Trigger lying on the floor in