ve methods he had not been able to get
any information--such things were too far beyond the natives' simple
abilities to describe or picture for him.

Hanlon's ability to telepath, through Geck, was growing much stronger,
although he was still not able to telepath direct to any of the distant
Guddus. He could, however, do so to some extent to one close by.

But he still could not read anything in a human mind except the surface
thoughts. And how he could use that ability! With that, his task would
be much simpler.

But he had learned to be content with what he had, realizing it was
undoubtedly unique in human history. It had brought him this far along,
and he had collected a lot of information which he could not have gained
in any other manner--information that he could report to the Corps as
soon as he got back to Simonides and had the chance to go to the bank or
contact them in some other way.

"Liberation Day," as Hanlon had taken to calling it in his mind, finally
arrived. He was all packed and waiting for the ship. When it was sighted
he and Philander went to the field to meet it.

When the captain came out, the three stood in conversation while the
crew hurriedly unloaded the supplies they had brought, and those leaving
had gone aboard. The captain handed Philander some letters, but the
latter shoved them in his pocket for the time beings without stopping to
look at them.

Finally it was time for blast-off, and Hanlon said his last farewells to
the superintendent, then went in to stow his bags in his stateroom and
prepare for take-off. He had expected to be locked in again, and merely
tried the door out of curiosity. But to his surprise it wasn't locked,
so he went out. He was wise enough not to attempt to invade the control
room, but did hunt up a viewing-screen and strap himself into the chair
before it.

He manipulated the dials and had just got an outside view as the pilot
began activating the tubes. Hanlon saw Philander come running from the
little path through the jungle, back toward the field, waving a letter,
trying to attract attention.

But evidently neither the captain, pilot nor any watch officer saw him,
for at that moment the great wash of flame from the tubes blotted out
the scene, and Hanlon was forced deeply into his acceleration chair as
the ship lifted gravs.

The trip back was uneventful. Hanlon kept careful track of the time, and
strained all his spaceman's senses properly to evalua