person with us," a Tindar said. "I think that everything will be quite all right." "Well, we shall see. Apologies will be made to your corporation and a settlement of some kind, of course," Dr. Bronsky shrugged. "There is extremely little else that we can do. Until one of you dissipates, I suggest that you--" he indicated one Tindar--"be Alpha Tindar, and you--" he indicated the other--"be Beta Tindar. It might simplify matters."

The doctor himself checked them out at the desk and followed them to the door full of regrets at the event. * * * * *

Alpha and Beta Tindar ate a hearty meal at a cafe, then phoned Miss Kanton and felt better seeing her face in the view-plate. It was a nice face, a bit solemn, but nice. She had brown eyes and a burnt-honey mass of hair. They found that she was already out of the Dupe Labs and was waiting for them.

An electric car whisked to the place where Miss Kanton stayed. They liked Miss Kanton, but her coolness and aloofness they did not like. She was a woman technician, a capable intelligent young woman who, the Tindars privately thought, could be an extremely nice person to have around if she would cease playing the part of the scientist for a few minutes. Her smile, her figure, her face all checked perfectly. But her mind was as sexless as an adding machine that had been left out in the snow.

She came down the walk towards the car with her dupe, each with a brief-case under one arm. The Tindars glanced simultaneously at her ankles, but found them covered by the leather boots of her space suit. "This is my dupe," Miss Kanton said as she came up to the car, indicating her duplicate who had a white top to her suit collar. "Hello, muscles!" greeted the dupe of Miss Kanton. "Call me Kay, will you?" Miss Kanton looked startled and the two Tindars quietly gulped a greeting.

"I'm afraid I have a rather wild replica of myself," Miss Kanton said with surprise. "I'm glad she's only good for eighty hours. But she could ruin my reputation in thirty seconds." "Quit worrying about your reputation," scolded the merry dupe. "Get those meter-readings out of your mind and think more about these two exciting hunks of masculinity here in the car."

"Katherine!" Miss Kanton shrieked. "I will not tolerate any such inopportune mouthing. Behave yourself!" "It's just your inner self speaking, sister," the dupe replied with a chuckle. "Katherine!" Miss Kanton gasped. "Mr. Tindar, you will ignore this, please?" Miss Kanton and her dupe climbed into the car 

 Prev. P 5/15 next