THE COSMIC COMPUTER

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"The walls; the fifty-foot walls, shielded inside and out. Merlin?the
circuitry, the memory-bank, the relays, everything?was installed inside
them. What's up above is only what was needed to operate the computer.
Isn't that true, General?"

Shanlee had stopped his derisive laughter. He sat on the edge of the
cot, tensing as though for a leap at Conn's throat.

"That won't help, either. If you try it, we won't shoot you. We'll just
overpower you and start mind-probing right away. Now; you feel that
suppressing Merlin was worth any sacrifice. We're not unreasonable. If
you can convince us that Merlin ought not to be brought to light....
Well, you can't do any harm by talking, and you may do some good. You
may even accomplish your mission."

"He can't talk us out of it," Kurt Fawzi seemed determined to spoil
things by saying. "Conn, I'm coming around to Klem's way of thinking.