ame. Jadiver had warned him and if Burlingame was
willing to risk it, that was up to him.

Before he left, Jadiver checked his office. A few calls in the last
week, but nothing important. It was a routine check and he gave the
robot routine instructions.

A tiny thing, that office, located on the ground floor of a building
fronting a principal thoroughfare. A space large enough for a client to
sit down, if one should come, which wasn't often. Behind the desk was
the upper half of a robot. Tiny though the office was, it was not
inexpensive, and the business that passed through it was barely enough
to pay the rent.

There were other advantages in maintaining it, though. As long as he had
a business address, he was spared certain legal embarrassments.

* * * * *

Five minutes later, he was greeted by Vicon Burlingame. "Come in."
Jadiver did so.

Burlingame silently studied Jadiver closely. "Maybe you're tired," he
said at last. "A little sun would relax you."

"It might," agreed Jadiver. "This cloudy Venus."

"It's not so bad when you're home," said Burlingame. "But public places
are bad for ultraviolet." He indicated the next room. "The lamp is in
there."

Jadiver went in and began to remove his clothing. Before he finished,
a little man came in, nodding silently at Jadiver. Without comment,
Jadiver stood in front of the machine. While the little man methodically
examined him, his clothing disappeared.

The little man looked up at the end of the intensive investigation.
"You'll do," he said.

"Clear?" asked Jadiver.

"Clear as the atmosphere of the Moon. We were afraid they'd planted you
while you were in the hospital, but we decided to take the chance."

For the first time since the accident, Jadiver felt relaxed. "Thanks,
Cobber. I was hoping to contact someone to check it for me."

Cobber shrugged. "Who can you trust? If you go to a doctor good enough
to find a gadget that small, what is he? A high-powered professional and
he's got his problems. He sees something inside and smiles and says
you're fine and charges you a fat fee. Even if he tells you that you've
been planted, there's nothing you can do. No one's going to cut it
out--not while the police can hear everything through it."

"Thanks for taking the chance."

Burlingame came in smiling confidently. "Now we can talk," he said.
Behind him were three other men Jadiver had never seen.

"Where are my clothes?" Jad