"Well, there you are!" he said. "I've been-" Then he saw Limila, and stopped. "Great day in the morningi"

He reddened. "I mean, uh-how do you feel, Limila?"

"Like a person, like myself again. It is not exact, no.

And much you see is artificial. But I see me in a mirror and want to be alive, not dead. For that I thank you who authorized that it could happen, as well as Barton and Dr. Parr." She went to him; before he knew what was happening she pulled his head down to hers and kissed him soundly. "You see? I do thank you."

"You're-you're certainly welcome." He was redder than ever. "Look, are we going to stand around out here all day? We've got work to do."

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Inside were only Hishtoo and a guard. Doktor Siewen was still under Parr's care; old flesh heals slowly. The guard was new; to him, Limila was a pretty woman, not a phenomenon. Hishtoo's response was something else; he came forward, stared at her closely and burst into outraged-sounding babble.

Limila laughed. Tarleton looked at her in wonder. Ob- viously, Barton thought, he'd never heard her laugh before. It did make a nice change of pace.

"He is furious with me," she said. "He says he found me worthy to be Demu, had me made Demu with great effort. Now I waste it and choose to be animal again. He scrapes his hands clean of me."

"He's breaking my heart," said Barton- "I weep big tears."

'Tell him," said Tarleton, "to can the clatter. There's work to do. And that goes for us, too." So they got down to the laborious business of asking questions, of cross- checking the answers they could not trust, against pre- vious results. Hishtoo lied about half the time but his memory was not perfect; he could be caught in incon- sistencies. These weren't thrown back at him; that wasn't the idea. But by careful checking, the facts slowly emerged. It was a tedious process, but it was the only game in town. Eeshta, unfortunately, had no technical training.

Barton spent only a short time with them; his main business was with Kreugel, and the ship.

Barton and Limila worked hard for Tarleton that day, the next and part of a third, before his requirements were met. At lunch that day he told them they were cleared to go touring, vacationing.

"Fine business," said Barton. "Is the 12th still on for takedffT*

"Looks like it," Tarleton said. "Why don't you figure on getting back here by the 10th? In time to check with me and maybe confer a little, that day?"

"Fine by me. Look, would you run through the money thing again?"

The government had reimbursed Barton, by act of Congress, for the value of his lost estate. In fairness he should have received the amount as of the time he had been declared legally dead. But some deskbound nit- picker, by dint of an obscure regulation, had managed to fob him off with the lesser sum that had existed at the

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time of his disappearance, before the vogue for his paintings. When he heard, Barton said a few four-letter words and shrugged it off. He'd long since forgotten his earlier idea of soaking the government a real bundle for

the Demu ship.

He was on an adequate though not lavish salary, and

there was provision for expenses when he was off the project site and out into the world; that part had been explained to him earlier, but he'd been preoccupied with other matters and hadn't paid much attention. On the Seattle trip. accommodations had been provided; Barton bad spent nothing but a little pocket money. So Tarleton

patiently went over it again.

"Your expense-account setup is a modification of the old per-diem system. You draw a flat $200 a day ordi- narily, Any week your expenses run over $1,400 you . either swallow the loss or turn in complete receipts if you want to pick up the difference. Up to you. If you're plan- ning to hit any really plush resorts I advise you to collect the receipts. I've put in a special voucher for Limila to get $100 a day. Previously she's been on the books as a . temporary ward of the government. You can draw the full advance at the Finance Office this afternoon."

He grinned. "I heard about Groundley trying to give you the runaround yesterday. That was one too many;

he's been a nuisance before, and I'd been looking for an excuse to fix his wagon. He's been reassigned to the filing section, so if they can't find your file you'll know why."

Barton and Limila thanked Tarleton, shook hands with him and Kreugel and went home, with a no- problems stopover at the Finance Office. Barton sin- cerely appreciated Groundley's absence ...

They made love, packed luggage. Barton exchanged , the motor-pool jeep for the rental car he bad arranged to have delivered, and they were off and away. Limila was wearing the shortest of the three wigs Barton had bought. It was a short-cut, smooth-cap effect. All were black; Barton couldn't imagine her any other way. It remained to be seen whether she would have a different

* idea, : She didn't seem to have, when they reached the town

and shop where Barton had made his earlier purchases.

Mrs. Aranson, the owner, was startled when Barton removed LimUa's wig. He borrowed a piece of chalk and drew the Tilaran hairline on her scalp, correcting it

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*i'

to her eventual satisfaction. Mrs, Aranson made sketches, took careful measurements and jotted them on the paper. ::;

"Black and long, like the longest of the three I bought the other day," Barton specified, "And send it here." He gave the lady their address at the project. "How soon do you suppose we could have it? I'll pay extra for speed, because after the 10th of next month is too late."

"There will be no difficulty meeting that date, and no need for extra payment. But with these contours-rather unusual, you must admit-I'll have to design the piece to be held by adhesive at front and back. Will that ':

method be satisfactory?" Limila 'nodded; she seemed "'

totally unruffled. Mrs. Aranson obviously wanted to ask .*& more questions, but could find no way to do so without ^ breaching her calm professional courtesy, *a'

Barton took her off the hook. "The role in question," ^.

he said, not lying, really, "is that of a lady of an alien ^ race, from another planet." Mrs. Aranson smiled. These 1 actors and actresses; they'd do anything!

Back outside, Limila was in a sunny mood. "Thank '".

you. Barton. Now when we come to Tilara I will have ^ other teeth made, also, with the full forty." She looked at him, put her hand on his arm. "But if you like me better as an Earthwoman, then when we are alone I can wear Earth teeth and Earth hair. And Earth tils'" Barton broke up laughing.

"Honey, you wear just any little ol' thing you damn :

please! Or not..." -,;'

His comment reminded Limila that her wardrobe left something to be desired in the matter of quantity. She ^ shopped rapidly, but it was an hour later when Barton ^ paid the clerk and they were ready to drive on.

They had gone about fifty kilometers further across the high desert plateau when Barton realized he'd for- gotten to say goodbye to Eeshta, or to put it to Tarleton that she should accompany the expedition. He made a mental note.

They stopped for the night fairly early. Barton spotted an attractive motel, shortly after they left their narrow two-lane road for an Interstate freeway. After quick showers, they beaded for the motet's restaurant.

"We have twenty-two days free and clear," Barton told Limila over dinner, "not counting today or the day we're supposed to get back. Suppose I pick up some maps at the service station. I can tell you what kinds of

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country we have around here in various directions, and you decide what you'd most like to see."

"That would be nice. Barton," she said, "Can we be among some of your forests, and mountains? And see the ocean?" ./

"I wouldn't be surprised. Would you like a liqueur with your coffee?" She would. Then they returned to their room, passing the motel pooL In the room, Limila sighed.

"Anything wrong?" Barton asked.