"What's the matter?"

"Come-she is ... sick," he growled.

"Sick? How? What's wrong?"

"Don't know. You come."

Render stared into the unhuman eyes.

"What kind of sick?" he insisted.

"Don't know," repeated the dog. "Won't talk. Sits.

I... feel, she is sick."

"How did you get here?"

"Drove. Know the co, or, din, ates . . . Left car, out- side."

"I'll call her right now." Render turned.

"No good. Won't answer."

He was right.

Render returned to his inner office for his coat and medkit. He glanced out the window and saw where her car was parked, far below, just inside the entrance to the 'r.

marginal, where the monitor had released it into manual^ control. If no one assumed that control a car was auto- H;, matically parked in neutral. The other vehicles were passed around it.

So simple even a dog can drive one, he reflected. Bet- ter get downstairs before a cruiser comes along. It's prob-

97.

ably reponed itself stopped there already. Maybe not, though. Might still have a few minutes grace.

He glanced at the huge clock.

"Okay, Sig," he called out. "Let's go."

They took the lift to the ground floor, left by way of the front entrance and hurried to the car.

Its engine was still idling.

Render opened the passengerside door and Sigmund leaped in. He squeezed by him into the driver's seat then, but the dog was already pushing the primary coor- dinates and the address tabs with his paw.

Looks like I'm in the wrong seat.

He lit a cigarette as the car swept ahead into a U-underpass. It emerged on the opposite marginal, sat poised a moment, then joined the traffic flow. The dog di- rected the car into the high-acceleration lane.

"Oh," said the dog, "oh."

Render felt like patting his head at that moment, but he looked at him, saw that his teeth were bared, and decided against it.

"When did she start acting peculiar?" he asked.

"Came home from work. Did not eat. Would not an- swer me when I talked. Just sits."

"Has she ever been like this before?"

"No."

What could have precipitated it?-But maybe she just had a bad day. After all, he's only a dog-sort of. -No.

He'd hnow. But what, then?

"How was she yesterday-and when she left home this morning?"

"Like always."

Render tried calling her again. There was still no an- swer.

"You did, it," said the dog.

"What do you mean?"

"Eyes. Seeing. You. Machine. Bad."

"No," said Render, and his hand rested on the unit of stun-spray in his pocket.

"Yes," said the dog, turning to him again. "You will, make her well... ?"

"Of course," said Render.

Sigmund stared ahead again.

Render felt physically exhilarated and mentally slug- gish. He sought the confusion factor. He had had these

98 .

feelings about the case since that first session. There was something very unsettling about Eileen Shallot; a com- bination of high intelligence and helplessness, of deter- mination and vulnerability, of sensitivity and bitterness.

Do I find that especially attractive?-No. It's just the counter-transference, damn it!

"You smell afraid," said the dog.

"Then color me afraid," said Render, "and turn the page."

they slowed for a series of turns, picked up speed again, slowed again, picked up speed again. Finally, they were traveling along a narrow section of roadway through a semi-residential area of town. The car turned up a side street, proceeded about half a mile further, clicked softly beneath its dashboard, and turned into the parking lot behind a high brick apartment building. The click must have been a special servomech which took over from the point where the monitor released it, be- cause the car crawled across the lot, headed into its transparent parking stall, then stopped. Render turned off the ignition.

Sigmund had already opened the door on his side.

Render followed him into the building, and they rode the elevator to the fiftieth floor. The dog dashed on ahead up the hallway, pressed his nose against a plate set low in a doorframe and waited. After a moment, the door swung several inches inward. He pushed it open with his shoul- der and entered. Render followed, closing the door be- hind him.