Spinneret

Afterward Meredith would remember hearing the clatter of Barner's rifle being brought to bear and a general cacophony of startled yelps; but for that one horrifying second there was nothing in the universe but his wrist and the cold metal suction grip fastened there.

There was no question of making a break for the stairs; every instinct in Meredith's body screamed for him to get the tentacle off fast. Throwing himself backward, he snapped his arm over his head—

And sprawled on his back at Perez's feet.

"What happened?" Barner snapped.

Meredith sat up, ignoring a momentary dizziness, and examined his arm.

Completely whole, apparently functional, and without even a mark where the snake had gripped him. "It just … let go," he managed, not entirely believing it.

"It—I guess it wasn't trying to hold me." He shifted his attention to the Gorgon's Head, which had withdrawn its tentacle again but had otherwise not reacted.

Waiting? And for what?

"Could it have injected something into your wrist?" Hafner asked anxiously.

Meredith shook his head. Waiting. "No needle marks or inflammation—I already checked. And even with a hypospray you feel something." Cautiously, he got to his feet and again faced the Gorgon's Head. Natural fear fought natural curiosity

… and for the moment the curiosity was stronger. "I'm going to try it again," he a

This time he stepped directly toward the Gorgon's Head, getting only a pace and a half before the same elongating tentacle snapped out. He managed to hold still as the metal again gripped his skin, his eyes on two other tentacles that arched over the machine like rattlesnakes preparing to strike. For five heartbeats nothing happened … and then the Gorgon's Head emitted a sound like a hiccup, and suddenly Meredith was surrounded by a cloud of smoke. He took an incautious breath and nearly choked. "It's all right," he gasped, to forestall any action from the others. "Just like being buried alive in spice teas." He sniffed again, but the cloud already seemed to have dissipated. Simultaneously, the Gorgon's Head withdrew its tentacle from his arm.

"Well?" Perez asked from behind him.

"Why are you asking me? Meredith retorted. "I'm not in charge here."

"I wonder," Hafner said slowly. "Colonel … why don't you try going for the stairs again."

Meredith thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. "All right. Major, get ready with that headset."

Neither machine made the slightest move to interfere as he walked into the stairway entrance, nor did they react when Barner lobbed him the headset. "They seem to have lost interest in me," he commented as he put on the headset, temporarily out of reach of both Gorgon's Heads. "Let's hope the word's been spread to the rest of the gang."

"I'll be very surprised if it hasn't," Hafner said. "I think, Colonel, that you've been declared a friend."

Meredith paused. "You mean that puff of ci

"Either that or a confirmation signal that you were logged onto the computer. It may be that that tentacle was recording your scent or heartbeat or something."

"That's ridiculous," Meredith snorted. "I can't possibly smell anything like a Spi

"Maybe the data's been lost," Nichols suggested. "Maybe the Gorgon's Heads are trying to reestablish it, using you as a prototype."

"But—" Meredith closed his mouth. "Okay, let's put it to a real test, then. That other squad of Gorgon's Heads must be downstairs by now. If they don't give me any trouble, I'll concede you may be right."

He had to walk through the lobby and all the way around the base of the tower, but by the time he started up the stairs again he was convinced.

"I don't believe it," he puffed as he entered the control room. "Damn things acted like a bunch of pet poodles—took a sniff and then ignored me completely." He turned to Barner, motioned him forward. "Let's see if it'll accept you, too, Major."

It did; and in the end all five of them submitted to the Gorgon's Head's olfactory inspection. "I still don't understand it," Barner shook his head as the others cautiously tested their new immunity. "Why should their security system be the only thing that's fallen apart after all this time?"

"And fallen apart in just the right way to help us," Nichols added, gingerly touching one of the Gorgon's Heads' shells. "It could just as easily have decided to keep everyone out of the tower."

"It may not be nearly as providential as you think," Perez said. "You could explain it just as well by a single minor failure plus a breakdown in communications.

Suppose, for instance, that there's supposed to be a lock or independent security sca

"Clever idea," Hafner grunted. "But pretty stupid of the things."

Perez shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. I've used the same technique myself. Once you're actually inside a restricted place it's not too hard to stay there."

"Well, whatever the reason," Hafner shrugged, "being in the Gorgon's Heads'

good graces will come in handy when the anthropologists get here. I don't suppose they'd like working with snakes looking over their shoulders."

Meredith frowned. "What anthropologists are these?"

"Should I have said linguists? The people who we're going to have to call in to translate all this." He waved over the control boards.

"Probably need computer experts, too," Nichols added. "Also mathematicians, materials specialists—"

"Hold it a second," Meredith cut him off. "Just where do you think we're going to find these people?"

Nichols blinked. "We got Dr. Chang and his group easily enough, didn't we? All we should have to do is send a list back with the next shuttle."

Meredith glanced at Perez, noted the sour look on his face. For obvious reasons, the colonel hadn't exactly advertised news of the Council's ultimatum and Chang's forced departure; it now appeared that no one else had given it much publicity, either. "As it happens, Doctor," he told Nichols, "Dr. Chang is no longer with us.

He left because of a Council resolution barring non-Astrans from Spi

"Unless, of course, the Council would consider scrapping its edict."

Perez flushed; whether in anger or embarrassment Meredith couldn't tell. "The resolution was meant to protect Astra from having its only resource plundered by outsiders and being left then to rot or starve. That danger still exists."

"Aren't you being just a bit melodramatic?" Hafner grunted. "Not to mention living in the nineteenth century? We're not exactly native savages here, you know, who'll just sit around while the Spi

"The secrets can still be stolen," Perez pointed out. "Besides, we don't need anyone else. The Ctencri have computer programs that can decipher an unknown language— they translated Earth's major languages in less than a week, I'm told."

"They also had some hundred thousand radio and TV cha

Nichols pointed out. "All we've got are a bunch of control switches."

Perez still had a stonewall look on his face, but Meredith could tell he was weakening. "Well … if we kept the investigation team small—and international," he added, glancing at Meredith, "I suppose we could take adequate safeguards."

"Why international?" Barner asked suspiciously. "The U.S. has all the experts we could want."