"I'm to understand this couldn't be put off until Monday?"

His boss, Ryder, nodded.

"And no other Security Officer would do?"

"No other."

Doak rose. "Anything else--_sir_?"

Ryder smiled. "Just one. As a guess, what do you think it is, in the old Fisher place, on the Range Road?"

"Readers," Doak answered, "or why would the former Senator be so worried?"

Ryder chuckled. "I can see them now, in the curtained room, huddling over an old railroad timetable. I think your guess is sound, Doak." He rose. "And there'll be other weekends. That girl can wait. She isn't going to spoil."

This is a world where reading is literally a Federal offense. Really.