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.So yousee.Oh, there he is now, over there! I've been wondering where be's been keepinghimself."She nodded toward the entrance and prattled on artlessly."He's almost neverlate, youknow, and I've."He looked, and as his eyes met those of the First Lensman, Jill learnedthree ofthe facts she needed so badly to know.Her father.Here.Soon.She never knewhowshe managed to keep herself under control; but, some way and just barely, shedid.Although nothing showed, she was seething inwardly: wrought up as she hadnever before been.What could shedo? She knew, but she did not have a scrap or an iota of visible ortangibleevidence; and if she made one single slip, however slight, the consequencescould beimmediate and disastrous.After this dance might be too late.She could make an excuse to leave thefloor,but that would look very bad, later.and none of them would Lens her, sheknew,while she was with Herkimer-damn such chivalry!.She could take thechance ofwaving at her father, since she hadn't seen him for so long.no, thesmallest riskwould be with Mase.He looked at her every chance he got, and she'd make himuse hisLens.Northrop looked at her; and over Herkimer's shoulder, for one fleetinginstant, shePage 56 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlallowed her face to reveal the terrified appeal she so keenly felt."Want me, Jill?" His Lensed thought touched only the outer fringes of hermind.Full rapport is more intimate than a kiss: no one except her father had everreally put aLens on Virgilia Samms.Nevertheless:"Want you! I never wanted anybody so much in my life! Come in, Mase ûquick ûplease!"Diffidently enough, he came; but at the first inkling of the girl's newsall thought ofdiffidence or of privacy vanished."Jack! Spud! Mr.Kinnison, Mr.Samms!" he Lensed sharp, imperative,almostfrantic thoughts."Listen in!""Steady, Mase, I'll take over," came Roderick Kinnison's deeper, quietermentalvoice."First, the matter of guns.Anybody except me wearing a pistol? Youare, Spud?""Yes, sir.""You would be.But you and Mase, Jack?""We've got our Lewistons!""You would have.Wasters, my sometimes-not-quite-so-bright son, are fineweapons indeed for certain kinds of work.In emergencies, it is of coursepermissible tokill a few dozen innocent bystanders.In such a crowd as this, though, it ismuch bettertechnique to kill only the one you are aiming at.So skip out to my car, youtwo, rightnow, and change û and make it fast." Everyone knew that Roderick Kinnison'scar was atall times an arsenal on wheels."Wish you were in uniform, too, Virge, but itcan't behelped now.Work your way-slowly-around to the northwest corner.Spud, do thesame.""It's impossible-starkly unthinkable!" and "I'm not sure of anything,really."Samms and his daughter began simultaneously to protest."Virgil, you talk like a man with a paper nose.Keep still until afteryou've used yourbrain.And I'm sure enough of what you know, Jill, to take plenty of steps.You can relaxnow-take it easy.We're covering Virgil and I called up support in force.Youcan relax alittle, I see.Good! I'm not trying to hide from anybody that the next fewminutes may becritical.Are you pretty sure, Jill, that Herkimer is a key man?""Pretty sure, Pops." How much better she felt, now that the Lensmen wereonguard! "In this one case, at least.""Good! Then let hurl talk you into giving him every dance, right straightthroughuntil something breaks.Watch him.He must know the signal and who is going tooperate,and if you can give us a fraction of a second of warning it will help no end.Can do?""I'll say I can-and I would love to, the big, slimy, stinking skinker!"As transliteratedinto words, the girl's thought may seem a trifle confused, but Kinnison knewexactly whatPage 57 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlshe meant."One more thing, Jill; a detail.The boys are coming back in and areworking theirpartners over this way.See if Herkimer notices that they have changed theirholsters.""No, he didn't notice," Jill reported, after a moment."But I don'tnotice anydifference, either, and I'm looking for it.""Nevertheless, it's there, and the difference between a Mark Seventeenand aMark Five is something more than that between Tweedledum and Tweedledee,"Kinnisonreturned, dryly."However, it may not be as obvious to non-military personnelas it is tous.That's far enough, boys, don't get too close.Now,, Virge, keep solidly enrapport withJill on one side and with us on -the other, so that she won't have to giveherself and theshow away by yelling and pointing, and.:'"But this is preposterous!" Samms stormed."Preposterous, hell," Roderick Kinnison's thought was still coldly level;only thefact that he was beginning to use non-ballroom language revealed any sign ofthe strainhe was under."Stop being so goddam heroic and start using your brain.Youturneddown fifty billion credits.Why do you suppose they offered that much, whenthey can getanybody killed for a hundred? And what would they do about it?""But they couldn't get away with it, Rod, at an Ambassadors' Ball.Theycouldn't,possibly.""Formerly, no.That was my first thought, too.But it was you who pointedout tome, not so long ago, that the techniques of crime have changed of late.In thenew light,the swankier the brawl the greater the confusion and the better the chance ofgettingaway clean.Comb that out of your whiskers, you red-headed mule!""Well.there might be something in it, after all.:' Samms'thought showedapprehension at last."You know damn well there is.But you boys-Jack and Maseespecially-loosen up.You -can't do good shooting while you're strung up like a couple of cocoons.Do some.thing-talk to your partners or think at Jill.""That won't be hard, sir." Mason Northrop grinned feebly."And thatreminds me ofsomething, Jill.Mentor certainly bracketed the target when he-or she, or it,maybe-saidthat you would never need a Lens.""Huh?" Jill demanded, inelegantly."I don't see the connection, if any.""No? Everybody else does, I'll bet.How about it?" The other Lensmen,evenSamms, agreed enthusiastically."Well, do you think that any of thosecharacters,particularly Herkimer Herkimer Third, would let a harness bull in harness-evensuch abeautiful one as you-get close enough to him to do such a Davey the Dip act onPage 58 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm
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