"But they have a contract!"
The soldier grinned.
The big man, Rush, was paying no attention. Quite suddenly he said:
"Who cut that wire, Cap?"
* * * * *
Dylan swung slowly to look at him. "As far as I can figure, an alien
cut it."
Rush shook his head. "No. Ain't been no aliens near this camp, and
no peculiar animals either. We got a planet-wide radar, and ain't no
unidentified ships come near, not since we first landed more'n a year
ago." He lifted the rifle and peered through the bore. "Uh-uh. One of
us did it."
The man had been thinking. And he knew the planet.
"Telepathy?" asked Dylan.
"Might be."
"Can't see it. You people live too close, you'd notice right away if
one of you wasn't ... himself. And, if they've got one, why not all?"
Rush calmly--at least outwardly calmly--lit his pipe. There was a
strength in this man that Dylan had missed before.
"Don't know," he said gruffly. "But these are aliens, mister. And until
I know different I'm keepin' an eye on my neighbor."
He gave Rossel a sour look and Rossel stared back, uncomprehending.