"Right, but there have always been space accidents ... or they were caught by the pirates ... you think, then, that—"
"I don't think. I know!" Kinnison declared. "They got to Arisia, and they died there. All I can say is, thank God for the Arisians! We can still trust our Lenses; they are seeing to that."
"But why didn't they tell us?" Haynes asked, perplexed.
"They wouldn't; that isn't their way," Kinnison stated, flatly and with conviction. "They have given us an instrumentality, the Lens, by virtue of which we should be able to do the job, and they are seeing to it that that instrumentality remains untarnished. If we cannot handle it properly, that is our lookout. We've got to fight our own battles and bury our own dead. Now that we have smeared up the enemy's military organization in this Galaxy by wiping out Helmuth and his headquarters, the drug syndicate seems to be my best chance of getting a line on the real Boskone. While you are mopping up and keeping them from establishing another war base here, I think I'd better be getting at it, don't you?"
"Probably so—you know your own oysters best. Mind if I ask where you're going to start in?" Haynes looked at Kinnison quizzically as he spoke. "Have you deduced that, too?"
The Gray Lensman returned the look in kind. "No. Deduction couldn't take me quite that far," he replied in the same tone. "You are going to tell me that, when you get around to it."
"Me? Where do I come in?" the Port Admiral feigned surprise.
"As follows. Helmuth probably had nothing to do with the dope running, so its organization must still be intact. If so, they would take over as much of the other branch as they could get hold of, and hit us harder than ever. I haven't heard of any unusual activity around here, so it must be somewhere else. Wherever it is, you would know about it, since you are a member of Galactic Council; and Councillor Ellington, in charge of Narcotics, would hardly take any very important step without conferring with you, as port admiral and chief of staff. How near right am I?"
"On the center of the beam, all the way—your deducer is blasting at maximum," Haynes said, in admiration. "Radelix is the worst—they're hitting it mighty hard. We sent a full unit over there last week. Shall we recall them, or do you want to work independently?"