J nodded slowly. «That's true. The stress on Richard was so low that he was in the other Dimension before he realized it. That's basically how the Ngaa was able to take him over.»

«Precisely,» said Leighton, obviously keeping the triumph out of his voice with difficulty. «I'm not going to defend my bending of the rules, except that I've kept only the most useful and least dangerous part of the KALI system. In fact, I would say that using the old launching chair with this hastily rigged computer installation could be much more dangerous than using the KALI capsule.»

Leighton was capable of telling almost any sort of lie with a straight face. He would have made a superb politician if he hadn't had such a total contempt for politics. However, he seldom tried to lie to J on a matter of Richard Blade's safety. The old spymaster was too concerned about Blade and much too alert.

By now the snatches of the conversation he'd heard were triggering Blade's memories. Unlike the old system of wires and electrodes fastened in place by hand, the capsule made a circuit between him and the computer that was complete and identical each time. Leighton seemed to believe this might radically reduce the stress on the person in the capsule as he was shot off into Dimension X. That hadn't been in any of the reports, but it certainly sounded plausible. And if it was true — well, anything that reduced the danger of any part of the trip into Dimension X was a blessing.

For the moment at least Blade wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He cleared his throat, making the other two men pause, then asked Leighton:

«You'll be using the old manually-controlled main sequence with the KALI capsule this time?»

«Yes. The two are compatible, with a few modifications I've made.»