IX
Joel's reaction was instinctive. He pressed the mechanism that actuated the mirror, drew his paralyzer. The yellow beam flicked down the corridor, touched Roos' spine.
The general went limp as a microweb stocking!
Joel was at the girl's side with a bound. He scooped her up, plunged back into the passage behind the mirrors. He never glanced at Roos. The police chief, he knew, would be unconscious for an hour or more from the effects of the ray.
Joel hurried between the walls with the limp Ganelon girl in his arms. When he reached his own room he stretched her on his bunk.
Joel's room was only a niche in the wall between Priscilla Cameron's bedroom and the salon. It was just big enough for a bunk, a stool and a desk. One-way mirrors sealed it off from the apartment.
A glance assured Joel that Priscilla wasn't in. He began to chaff Tamis' limbs.
The minutes dragged past. Joel saw the color return to her cheeks. She looked like a slim, adolescent Aphrodite.
The girl opened her eyes, stared up at him blankly. "Joel! I—I did find you!" Then her features froze with horror. "But Roos! He knew I was there! He—he saw me. The ray...."