"You're right; I have developed considerably since then. But about guns—what do you want of one?"
"To kill that nitwit Ladora on sight, and that snake Cleonie, too, as soon as you get done with it."
"But why guns? Why not the mental force you always used?"
"Except by surprise, I couldn't," Helen admitted, frankly. "All adult persons are of practically equal mental strength. But speaking of strength, I marvel that a craft as small as this should be able to ward off the attack of one of those tremendous Boskonian ships of space."
"But she can't! What made you think she could?"
"Your own statement—or were you thinking of purely Lyranian dangers, not realizing that Ladora, of course, called Cleonie as soon as you showed your teeth, and that Cleonie as surely called the Lensman or some other Boskonian? And that they must have ships of war not too far away?"
"Heavens, no! It never occurred to me!"
Clarrissa thought briefly. It wouldn't do any good to call Kim. Both the Dauntless and the Velan were coming, as fast as they could come, but it would be a day or so yet before they arrived. Besides, he would tell her to lay off, which was exactly what she was not going to do. She turned her thought back to the matriarch.
"Two of our best ships are coming, and I hope they get here first. In the meantime, we'll just have to work fast and keep our detectors full out. Anyway, Cleonie won't know that I'm looking for her—I haven't even mentioned her to anyone except you."
"No?" pessimistically. "Cleonie knows that I am looking for it, and since it knows by now that I am with you, it would think that both of us were hunting it even if we weren't. But we are nearly close enough now; I must concentrate. Fly around quite low over the city, please."