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and seizing the golden collar which circled her scaly neck--just as such collars circled the necks of every
other dragon they had seen. One twist, a pull, and the collar was off.
Mine! shouted Fargo, spoils of war! He put it around his own neck, where it hung loosely.
Jeff watched what followed in amazement. The Grand Dragon, instead of soaring majestically,
began to flap her wings frantically. The enormous effort broke her fall, but did not prevent it. She landed
on the lawn with a loud plop and in a most undignified posture.
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Her guards gaped. Zi and Zargl hid their mouths with their claws. Norby tittered metallically.
What happened? asked Jeff.
This is an antigrav device, said Fargo, touching the collar. I ve been thinking that the
dragons must be too heavy to fly, especially with such comparatively small wings, and Norby confirmed
that.
That s right, come to think of it, said Jeff. They didn t have wings at all in their prehistoric
history. Remember?
I do. The Mentors must have added them as part of their bioengineering program for esthetic
reasons and perhaps to add stability in antigrav flight. Fargo elevated. It s done mentally. One thinks
up and there one is. A great device. Probably Norby has one incorporated into his own works.
Of course, I do, said Norby shrilly. I keep telling you all the time I m Jamyn in origin--in
part.
Now, said Fargo, I think I ll pay a visit to the castle under my own steam and not as
anyone s prisoner.
The the Grand Dragon had recovered from the mixture of shame and physical confusion that
had beset her, and now she struggled to her feet. Her guards rushed to her side as she screamed, Get
that stranger! Bring him down!
No, said Fargo, skimming over her head. I think not. I won the fight fairly and you cannot
try to upset the result without showing yourself to be most uncivilized. You just sit there and recover,
Your Majesty, while I....
No you don t, said Jeff. Not alone, you don t. He snatched up Norby under his left arm
and scooped up Oola with his right. We reall going. Up Norby--to the castle.
10
VILLAINS?
As Jeff and Norby swept up and forward to follow Fargo, who was already approaching the castle
door, Jeff saw that the Grand Dragon was vehemently ordering her guard back. Either she had taken
seriously Fargo s stem comment about uncivilized behavior, or else she had decided it didn t matter how
the strangers were brought to the castle as long as they got there.
Inside the castle, everything seemed the same as before. The four intruders, two humans, one
small robot (now on his feet again), and one All-Purpose Pet, proceeded down the dark corridor.
around the sharp curve and into the auditorium, which was still lined by the silent figures of dead
Mentors. Oola was restless in Jeff s arms.
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Where s the villain? asked Fargo. I don t see any live robot.
His voice echoed in the vast room, and no one answered.
Jeff took Norby s hand, and then Fargo s. --Let s talk telepathically. It will be safer, and
perhaps private, but we have to touch each other, Jeff said to their minds.
--What s that? That was Fargo, startled.
--I m sorry. I forgot you haven t experienced telepathy. Eerie, isn t it?
--Certainly not. That was Norby. His thoughts were loudest because he was designed for
telepathy. It is a perfectly natural way of speaking to one another if one has the talent for it.
Jeff smiled to himself. --Yes, but we human beings aren t used to it. Do you sense anything,
robot or otherwise, that s alive in this building, Norby?
--I ve been trying. I think there s a barrier field around this room at the moment. I can t sense
beyond it. It comes from the scanning section of the computer, part of which must be on the back wall,
though nothing shows there.
Fargo let go of Jeff s hand and walked quickly toward the back wall. Jeff ran after, pulling
Norby with him. He caught up to Fargo, and grabbed him.
--Don t let go of us, Fargo, or we can t communicate privately. And don t touch that wall, or
the computer may give our thoughts to the Mentor.
--Jeff, you are fourteen and I am twenty-four. As your much older brother....
--You can also be my stupid brother. I m the natural leader here, age or not, because I ve
been here before.... --and you got yourself captured. I ve been working with the giant computers at
Space Command so I ought to....
While they argued (neither managing to finish a sentence), Norby withdrew his legs and arms
into his body, elevated on his antigrav, and floated slowly to the featureless computer wall. Jeff and Fargo
stopped their mental conversation and watched him as he sailed up and down the wall, over and back.
--What are you doing, Norby?
--He can t hear you now, Fargo, when you talk telepathically. You aren t touching him.
--I forgot. Maybe you should be leader for a while, Jeff.
Iam leader, said Norby out loud. I can sometimes catch the telepathic drift, even when I m
not touching you. This is my planet, after all, even if I can t remember much, so letme try.
Try what? asked Jeff.
Try using my intuition.
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Do you have one?
Not a human one. I seem to have a built-in imagination and the ability to make guesses and
take chances. Or maybe being with human beings has taught me how to take chances, even though I
certainly don t enjoy it. Still....
Norby s feeler wire came out and entered a small crack in the surface. Minutes passed.
Norby s back eyes closed. Suddenly the crack began to expand and the wall opened like sliding doors.
Inside was an opening covered by a misty atmosphere and around the opening was the mechanism of
something that might have been a computer, though it was certainly like no computer Jeff had ever seen.
Jeff said so and Fargo added, Well I ve seen a great many more computers than you have,
Jeff, but it isn t like any I ve seen, either. What is that place inside?
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