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. It is
indeed fortunate that you and I have never been associated in any fashion in the
past; there is no probable way to trace me to you, or you to me. You can phone
me, certainly... but one must assume that my terminal is tapped, or my studio is
bugged, or both-and both have happened in the past. I suggest, rather, the
mails... for other than direst emergency."
"But mail can be opened. By the way, I'm Dr. Ames, not Colonel Campbell,
please. And oh yes!-this young man with us. He knows me as 'Senator' and Mrs.
Ames as 'Mistress Hardesty' from that dustup I told you about."
"I'll remember. In the course of a long life one plays many roles. Would
you believe that I was once known as 'Lance Corporal Finnegan, Imperial
Marines'?"
"I can easily believe it."
"Which just goes to show you, as I never was. But I've worked much stranger
jobs. Mail can be opened, true-but if I deliver a letter to a Luna City shuttle
just before it leaves our spaceport, it is most unlikely that it will ever reach
the hands of anyone interested in opening it. In the reverse direction a letter
sent to Henrietta van Loon, care of Madame Pompadour, 20012 Petticoat Lane, will
reach me with only minimal delay. An old, established madam has years of dealing
gently with
other people's secrets. One must trust, I find. The art lies in knowing
whom to trust."
"Doc, I find that I trust you
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