«Lord Leighton either hasn't arrived or hasn't noticed we're here,» said J with a thin smile.

«That's no surprise,» said Blade. The KALI computer which had caused much of the trouble last time no longer existed. A squad of strong men wielding sledgehammers and blowtorches had reduced it to unrecognizable electronic junk.

Fortunately the hardware of the previous master computer had survived, stowed away in a secret warehouse. Lord Leighton was a frugal soul at heart, in spite of his frequently extravagant ideas of what to do for the Project with the taxpayers' money. Once he'd been known for squirreling away copper wire and test tubes. Now he squirreled away entire computers.

So the old computer was back in place. Its installation was something of a tape-and-chewing gum job, though, and needed careful maintenance. Lord Leighton insisted that he was the best man for much of this maintenance, and he was probably right. He was quite possibly in the main room now, fussing with some components and as oblivious to the rest of the world as if he were on Mars.

Blade and J chatted for a few minutes-afterward Blade couldn't remember what they talked about-then the door opened and Lord Leighton's voice invited them in. J led the way. They passed into the familiar rock-walled room, with the equally familiar gray crackle-finished consoles back in place. They showed signs of neglect and hasty installation, though, and there were trailing wires all over the floor. J and Blade stepped over them as carefully as if they'd been poisonous snakes.

In spite of this J moved so fast that Blade found himself falling behind. J passed around a console and vanished from sight. Then a sudden, explosive, «What the bloody-?» echoed around the room, loud enough to make Blade break into a run. He came around the corner and stopped dead.

J was standing, glowering at Lord Leighton. The scientist was looking steadily back at J, refusing to be intimidated. In spite of his humpback and polio-twisted legs, there was something rocklike and enduring about his stance and manner.