It had shaken him, he thought slowly. His briefing on Thusca had mentioned nothing about an opposition organization of the apes. And in particular, it had mentioned nothing about a ... girl.
He would have to warn the agents in his own organization, he thought abstractly. And it would probably be best to use a code name. He asked Tanner for a suggestion.
"Use a girl's name," Tanner mused. "Say ... Avis."
Stan looked at him sharply and had the odd feeling that was really the girl's name. And then he recalled Tanner racing down the ramp screaming "Don't let her get away!" and the disappointed look on his face when she had.
Tanner, Stan decided suddenly, had lied about not knowing her.
"She'll probably be around again," Tanner mused out loud. "And soon."
The second agent disappeared in Paris, two weeks later.
CHAPTER VII
It was eight o'clock Thursday evening when Stan stepped out of a faintly glowing circle of black light in a small alley off the Rue Pigalle in Paris. He calmly lit a cigarette and walked down the street to a small cafe.