And Companions began traveling with other Companions, as teams, to resist the Mindsnake.
And there came a class of Companions who did not need the help of any other man or woman, but only a touchstone of reality, something familiar of Earth—the mind of a dog or a cat or some other animal. Familiars. So was born the Corps of Witches.
And here, Hammen wondered, was this where the Witches came to an end?
He looked at the bulging head of Gordus. He couldn't see inside it. Maybe there would ultimately be men who could, but he could only contact other minds when they were taken off the level of matter and energy, and placed in null-space. Where there is no space, there can be no barriers.
There was nothing but confusion in the woman's mind if he could touch it. Nothing but boredom and routine in the minds of the technicians.
Hammen's eyes moved to the dog. He suddenly decided Lad looked sad. But dogs have human facial muscles, and it would be impossible between a man and a dog for one to look into the other's mind, while they weren't in transmission.
Uselessly, he permitted himself to wish Lad was going with him....
The heavy shoulder muscles of the dog ripped him free from the technician's grasp and Lad threw himself across the diagram line as the coordinants of the transmatter phased.
