«Exactly what do you mean by that?» said J. He sounded as if he was now suspicious of Blade's motives instead of Lord Leighton's.

Blade held up one of the sketches. It showed a stick figure wearing a heavy pack and bristling with enough weapons for three men. «It will be safer because I'll be so well equipped, though in this one His Lordship has me loaded up like a pack mule. I suggest we start with something a little simpler. Say shorts, footgear, a canteen, and some sort of easily hidden weapon.»

Leighton leaned back in his chair and made a steeple of his fingers. «That's a reasonable suggestion. We can use the same fabric we used for Richard's loincloths when we were using the capsule and the electrodes. It may not make the trip, but at least we know it isn't dangerous. If we can waterproof it, we can make a canteen. With extra layers, we can make sandals.»

«What about the weapons?» asked J. Blade was relieved to hear J sound merely curious now, instead of suspicious of anybody.

«That depends on what you want, Richard. If you can manage with a knife, we have more than enough Englor Alloy Two to make one.»

The nonconducting alloy from Englor had also been thoroughly tested. A loinguard made of it had survived Blade's trip to Kaldak and back. He nodded. «A knife will be easier to make and definitely easier to hide. Also, it won't make anyone in a pretechnological Dimension suspicious the way a gun would.» He thought for a moment, then added, «If you ever want to make a long-range weapon for me, try a crossbow instead of a gun.»

«One thing at a time,» said Leighton. «We've got the production of EA Two up to five pounds a week, but that's much less than what we'll need before long. We could triple it at once with enough money for-««If Richard survives this experiment, I'll support your request for more money,» said J.