"Easily. We've got a team here that will do nothing else but question him."
Dan nodded, aware that the voices of specially trained psychologists were now speaking in the man's ears, so that he heard nothing else, while he saw only what the screen in the half-globe projected directly into his eyes. Soon he should begin to talk, and what he said would be transmitted through subspace to Kielgaard's team of questioners. Then it might be possible to learn something of what was going on on this planet. But there was another way that might also help.
Dan glanced at his wristwatch and saw that it was late enough so that if this were Earth most stores would probably be closed by now. Dan didn't know how it was on this planet, but he pronounced a key word and was in the bookstore that faced the green. The bookstore was closed.
Dan quickly selected an armload of books, brought them back to the shelter under the river, went back and got another stack of them. He set up a spidery device of light metal and piled the books near enough so the feed arms could reach them. A set of rubber-tipped rods like long skeletal fingers turned the pages, while the scanner on an overhead arm oscillated from a position over one page to a position over the other page.
Dan said, "How's it coming in, Kielgaard?"
"Speed it up a little."
Dan moved a small lever. The pages turned more quickly.
Dan said, "We'll see how the feeder works before I leave it." Then he got out a mirror and went to work to change his appearance again.
The second book fed in with no difficulty, so Dan took four of his little mataform units, which was all he had room for, and went back to the terminal.