bathing pool, running water, waste-disposal units and yellow cakes of soap.

The last room was an observatory. The ceiling and an entire wall were transparent. Outside, the stars shone clearly for a few seconds, then disappeared for an equal time, only to reappear in a different position.

"Hyper-space drive," Verana whispered softly. She was fascinated by the movement of the stars. For years, our scientists had sought a hyperspatial drive to conquer the stars.

We selected a comfortable chair facing the transparent wall, lit cigarettes and waited.

A few minutes later, Marie entered the room.

I noticed with some surprise that her face was calm. If she was excited, her actions didn't betray it.

She sat next to Verana.

"What happened?" my wife asked.

Marie crossed her legs and began in a rambling manner as if discussing a new recipe, "That was really a surprise, wasn't it? I was scared silly, at first. That room was dark and I didn't know what to expect. Something touched my head and I heard a telepathic voice—"

"Telepathic?" Verana interrupted.

"Yes. Well, this voice said not to worry and that it wasn't going to hurt me. It said it only wanted to learn something about us. It was the oddest feeling! All the time, this voice kept talking to me in a nice way and made me feel at ease ... and at the same time, I felt something search my mind and gather information. I could actually feel it search my memories!"

"What memories?" I inquired.

She frowned with concentration. "Memories of high school mostly. It seemed interested in English and history classes. And then it searched for memories of our customs and lives in general...."

Kane stalked into the room at that moment, his face red with anger. "Do you know where we are?" he demanded. "When those damned aliens got me in that room, they explained what this is all about. We're guinea pigs!"

"Did they use telepathy to explain?" Verana asked. I suddenly remembered that she was a member of a club that investigated extra-sensory perception with the hope of learning how it operated. She was probably sorry she hadn't been contacted telepathically.

"Yeah," Kane 

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