"Why do you think?" Trelawney asked irritably. "Before showing myself,
I was trying to determine the whereabouts of the man who fired a rifle
within half a mile of me during the night."
So they had been stalking each other. Dowland said, "Why couldn't that
person have been your brother or niece?"
"Because I know the sound of our rifles."
"My mistake.... Do you have a gun or other weapon on you?"
"A knife."
"Let's have it."
Trelawney reached under his chest, brought out a sheathed knife and
handed it back to Dowland. Dowland lobbed it into the bushes a few
yards away, moved back a little.
"Get up on your hands and knees now," he said, "and we'll make sure
that's all."
He was careful about the search. Trelawney appeared passive enough at
the moment, but he was not a man too take chances with. The AR suit
turned out to be concealing a tailored-in two-way communicator along
with as many testing and checking devices as an asteroid miner's
outfit, but no weapons. In a sealed pocket, obviously designed for
it, was a five-inch atomic key. Dowland slid the heavy disk out with
fingers that suddenly were shaking a little.
"Does this open your laboratory here?"
"Yes."
Dowland detached the communicator's transmission unit, and dropped it
with the laboratory key into his pocket. "All right," he said, "turn
around and sit down." He waited until Trelawney was facing him, then
went on. "How long have you been watching the ranch?"
"About an hour."
"Seen anyone--or anything?"