Wherever the message went, turmoil followed. Lensmen everywhere flashed questions at all the other Lensmen they knew or had ever met.
"What do you make of it, Fred?"
"Did you get the same thing I did?"
"Mentor! Grinning Noshabkeming, what's up?"
"Must be big for Mentor to be handling it."
"Big! It's immense! Whoever heard of Arisia stepping in before?"
"Big! Colossal! Mentor never talked to anybody except Kinnison before, did he?"
Millions of Lensed questions flooded every base and every office of the Patrol. Nobody, not even the vice co-ordinator, knew a thing.
"You might as well stop sending in questions as to what this is all about, because none of us knows any more about it than you do," Maitland finally sent out a general notice. "Apparently everybody with a Lens is getting the same message, no more and no less. All I can say is that it must be a Class A Prime emergency, and everyone who is not actually tied up in a life-and-death matter will please drop everything and stand by."