Joel's reaction was instinctive. He pressed the mechanism that actuated
the mirror, drew his paralyzer. The yellow beam flicked down the
corridor, touched Roos' spine.
The general went limp as a microweb stocking!
Joel was at the girl's side with a bound. He scooped her up, plunged
back into the passage behind the mirrors. He never glanced at Roos. The
police chief, he knew, would be unconscious for an hour or more from
the effects of the ray.
Joel hurried between the walls with the limp Ganelon girl in his arms.
When he reached his own room he stretched her on his bunk.
Joel's room was only a niche in the wall between Priscilla Cameron's
bedroom and the salon. It was just big enough for a bunk, a stool and a
desk. One-way mirrors sealed it off from the apartment.
A glance assured Joel that Priscilla wasn't in. He began to chaff
Tamis' limbs.
The minutes dragged past. Joel saw the color return to her cheeks. She
looked like a slim, adolescent Aphrodite.
The girl opened her eyes, stared up at him blankly. "Joel! I--I did
find you!" Then her features froze with horror. "But Roos! He knew I
was there! He--he saw me. The ray...."
"You're safe," said Joel. "I knocked him out with a paralyzer."
"But how did he discover me?"
"That's what's troubling me. Unless...." He paused, stared thoughtfully
at the frightened Ganelon girl. "Priscilla Cameron is a mutant. Her
sense of smell is as keen as mine. That's how your spies have been
detected. Maybe Roos is a mutant also."
Tamis sat up, glimpsed Priscilla's luxurious bedroom through the
mirrors, caught her lip between her teeth.
"Joel! Where are we?"
"Priscilla Cameron's apartment." He explained about the mirrors.
Tamis sighed in relief. "Joel, what have you learned? The Unfit
are impatient. That ex-surgeon, Walt Eriss, you remember him? He's
insisting that we attack at once. He--he's insane Joel!"
"He's a homicidal maniac," Joel agreed dryly. "I wish I'd taken Thorp's
advice and dumped him down the reconverters." He shook his head.
"I haven't learned much; but it's all bad!" And he told her about
Priscilla's knowledge of the slave organization.
"They can't know!" Tamis' voice was tight with horror. "They can't,
Joel! After all our precautions. What are they going to do?"
"I don't know."
"Hasn't Priscilla Cameron confided in you? I thought...."