“Nasty,” said Venn.
Zvi turned to Garner. “Focus on the circuit!” he said. “It’s my guess is that it’s a kind of dead-man switch: if the current is broken, then it is activated, probably through a spring, driving the stake down, killing the Vee prisoner.”
Garner, a wave of horror-induced dizziness passing through him, nodded grimly, his hand over his eyes.
“Alonzo,” he said automatically. It seemed important to give his beloved a name, and not refer to him in a generic way.
There was a silence while Garner struggled to regain mastery of himself. Then he opened up his Sensitivity, and felt his way around the circuit. He was aided by the conception he had picked up from Zvi’s mind. The Vee had been right: it was only by working together that they were making any progress at all.
At last
