“It is,” John said.

“Good. Is he spying for Woldercan? To the best of your knowledge?”

Speaking simultaneously, the president said, “Yes,” and John, “No.”

Gideon suppressed a smile. “Not proven, I take it.”

There was a pregnant silence while John waited for the president to speak. At last John said, “There are only two ways to communicate with Woldercan.”

The president muttered, “That we know of.”

“Ethermail can be monitored,” John continued. “It’s odd stuff—you probably know. Sometimes a second message gets there before the first one. Sometimes, well . . .”

“One picks up messages that have not yet been sent,” Gideon said.

“The whole question of time . . . of—which things are simultaneous and which are not—is . . . I mean, when you’ve got worlds light-years apart . . .”

Gideon rescued him. “One the best astrophysicists suggest is insoluble.”

John nodded gratefully. “That’s right, and ethermail won’t solve it. It only introduces more complications. I read once that congratulations from Earth on the birth of his son reached an ambassador on Woldercan before the baby was born. Back here, the State Department had received an ether-mail from him saying his son had been born and even giving the son’s name. I don’t recall what it was—”

“Gideon.” He turned to the president. “Your advisor doesn’t think this man Reis is spying for Woldercan. You do. Do you have evidence?”

“Evidence that will stand up in court? No, sir. No, I don’t. Only I look at what a man does.” The president aimed an imaginary rifle, squinting at its sights. “Where does he go for chow, huh? When does he do it? Where does he drink, an’ where does he bed down? Know them things an’ you can bag the wiliest old buck that ever corralled him a harem.”

Gideon nodded. “I’ve been known to hunt men the same way. So have you, I’m sure. What does Reis do?”

“It ain’t what he does, it’s what he did. He started in the minute he got home from Woldercan, an’ he’s got tricks I know damned well he didn’t have before he went. They turned him. Think that don’t happen? Think again.” The president’s again was almost agin. “They turned him an’ they taught him, knowin’ I’d want to pull him out an’ replace him with my own man.”