"I'll do that. Clear ether, Chris!" and he turned back to the Palainian.
"... so you see this is your problem. Go to it, little chum."
"I go, Kinnison."
XVIII.
For hours Camilla Kinnison and Tregonsee wrestled separately and fruitlessly with the problem of the elusive "X." Then, after she had studied the Rigellian's mind in a fashion which he could neither detect nor employ, Camilla broke the mental silence.
"Uncle Trig, my conclusions frighten me. Can you conceive of the possibility that it was contact with my mind, not yours, that made 'X' run away?"
"That is the only tenable conclusion. I know the limitations of my own mind, but I have never been able to guess at the capabilities of yours. I fear that I, at least, underestimated our opponent."
"I know that I did, and I was terribly wrong. I shouldn't have tried to fool you, either, even a little bit. There are some things about me that I just can't show to most people, but you are different—you're such a wonderful person!"
"Thanks, Camilla, for your trust." Understandingly, he did not go on to say that he would keep on being worthy of it. "I accept the fact that you Five, being children of two Second-Stage Lensmen, are basically beyond my comprehension. There are indications that you do not as yet thoroughly understand yourself. You have, however, decided upon a course of action."
"Oh—I'm so relieved! Yes, I have. But before we go into that, I haven't been able to solve the problem of 'X.' More, I have proved that I cannot solve it without more data. Therefore, you can't, either. Check?"