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would Kar-hinter have the masculine equipment

he had? -- but in all the years that I had been working for them I had

never seen a female Krith, nor had I ever heard of anyone who had. They

refused to discuss the matter with humans. Krithian sex life was a

complete mystery to the people who worked for and with them.

I gave both Sir Gerald and Kar-hinter a British salute, which they both

returned, though Kar-hinter seemed to have a mocking expression on his

alien face.

"Please be at ease, gentlemen," Sir Gerald said. "Sit down, won't you?"

"Thank you, sir," I said in English.

"I am Sir Gerald Asbury," the British general said, "and, I say, you

might as well drop the formalities. I am quite aware of who and what

you fellows are. And the men outside" -- he gestured toward the front

of the house -- "are yours as well. I am the only local here."

I nodded, took off my cap and dropped it onto the couch near me. After

unbuttoning my coat, I took one of the chairs that the general indicated.

"Greetings, Kar-hinter," I said awkwardly, since I never did know quite

what to say to a Krith.

"Hello, Eric," Kar-hinter said, clasping his hands behind his back. "And

you, Hillary, and you, Ronald." The last was directed at Kearns. "Please,

do all of you sit down and make yourselves comfortable. You, as well,

Sir Gerald."

When we were all seated, Kar-hinter gestured to Pall, who got the

bottle of wine and five glasses from the cabinet behind the Krith.

He poured wine into each of the glasses and passed them around without

speaking. I noticed that he poured none for himself. Then he returned

to his statue-like position behind his master.

"Again, gentlemen, please make yourselves comfortable," Kar-hinter said.

The Krith spoke local English without trace of an accent, a policy

which the Kriths prided themselves on, though at times it must have been

quite difficult. Their speaking mechanisms aren't made much like ours,

but they do a damned good job with them anyway.

"I am sure that you are wondering why you are here," he said when we had

each taken a sip from our glasses -- the wine was excellent.

Tracy and I nodded, though Kearns didn't seem concerned at all. He had

said before that he was going Outtime later on in the day, but for some

reason I felt some doubts about that, though I didn't know why.

"Good wine, is it not?" Kar-hinter asked. "French, though not local.

Pall acquired it from a few Lines East of here where they are not plagued

by war. Not just yet, at least. Please, drink up. I brought this bottle

especially for this meeting, and I would hate to see it go to waste."

Obediently we drank our wine and waited for Kar-hinter to get around

to telling us why we were here. Kriths don't hurry very often, though

they certainly expect it of humans when it's necessary. Well, that's

what they paid us for. And I rather liked the pay. I could never have

made that kind of money back in my Homeline.

"Now," Kar-hinter finally said after he had Pall refill our glasses,

"let me tell you about it. Or, rather, I shall let Sir Gerald begin.

Sir Gerald, please."

"Yes, certainly," the British general said awkwardly, reaching for the

map that lay on the table and then pushing it back, apparently deciding

that it wasn't time for it yet. "To get straight to the point, gentlemen,

Royal Intelligence has reason to believe that the Imperial Germans are

working on something called an atom bomb. Kar-hinter assures me that you

fellows know of such weapons, Outtime, that is.

"Yes, we do," I replied.

"Our scientists seem to have suspected that such a weapon is possible,

but they are a very long way from developing it. Kar-hinter tells me

that it is basically quite a simple thing."

Right then I was hardly listening to Sir Gerald's words. I was too

stunned by what he had said. The Imperials building atomic weapons!

It was fantastic. They were still three or four or even five decades from that . Hell, the locals