heard of him before then."
Wells laughed shortly. "We have. He's only got one year in this school,but we've had him in here several times. Know him pretty well by now.He got set back quite a bit in Primary, so he's some older than most ofthe Lower School bunch." He waved a hand.
"Oh, he's a brawler. We know that. But he doesn't start fights. Hefinishes them."
"He started this one."
"That right? And he quit when you told him to?"
"He did."
"Oh, no. That's not the Kelton. Last guy tried to stop him was out ofclasses for three days. Took five guys to bring Kelton in here." Wellsshook his head.
"Look, we got him in here and he told us his story. The other two cameup with the same thing later. Makes sense, too--if you know Kelton.It seems he and his brother ran into this kid, Waern, outside theauditorium right after Aud Call. They were talking about the newscast.And this kid came up and started an argument. Tried to slap Walt. Theypushed him off and went on their way. VanSickle went with them. He'dbeen in the crowd." Wells leaned forward.
"Got four witnesses to that, too, beside the three of them."
Don moved his head indifferently. "I wouldn't know about that. I wasn'tthere. All I know is what I saw in the locker room."
"Yeah. Yeah, sure. Then, they say they went on down to the locker room,after talking to some other students. When they got there, the Waernkid came flying at them again. Tried to bite and kick. They say youhelped Maurie pull him off Gerry, and told 'em you'd take it fromthere. So they went on to class. They can't figure out where you gotthe idea of writing them up over it. Didn't know they'd been written uptill we sent some guys up and pulled them out of their classes." Wellsflipped his hands out, palms upward.
"So there's their story. How about it?"
Don shook his head. "Pretty well worked out. Fits the situation, too.Only one trouble. There's almost no truth in it. Pete Waern made noeffort to hit any of those three while I was watching. And I didn'ttouch any of the four myself."
Wells laughed shortly. "That's what you're telling me. I've got a batchof statements telling the other story."
Don looked at the other for a moment. "Now wait a minute," he saidslowly. "Are you trying to tell me what I saw and did?"
Wells shook his head. "Just trying to fill you in. This isn't myproblem any more. Dr. Rayson's picked it up. Wants to see you. He's gotMr. Masterson with him and they're waiting for you to show up so theycan talk things over with you." He tilted his head.
"I don't know. I've heard about some funny things these Khlorisanu canpull off if they can get a guy's attention for a while. And that kid'sthe real thing--from way back. Better think things over a little,maybe. See if you can remember any dizzy spells or anything."
"Oh, now check your synchs, Wells." Don waggled his head disgustedly."I've heard those yarns too--down here. Look. All my life, I've beenliving on a ranch out in the mountains. Got Khlorisanu all over theplace. They work for us up there." He grinned.
"Isn't a thing they can do that you and I can't do, too. They've got nospecial powers, believe me. I know."
"You'd find it pretty hard to tell that one to Doc Rayson and make itstick," Wells told him. "And he's the guy you've got to talk to." Hereached into a basket on his desk and took out a stack of papers.
"Look, I've told you more'n I was supposed to all ready. Suppose you goover and talk to them for a while. They're waiting for you over in roomFive."
Don looked at him for a moment, then went out.
* * * * *
He swung about and examined the closed door thoughtfully, then massagedthe back of his neck.
"What's wrong with these people?" he asked himself. "Don't they knowhow to break down a rigged story? Or can't they recognize one when theyhear it?"
He crossed the hall.
"I'm Donald Michaels," he told the secretary. "I believe Dr. Raysonwants to see me."
The woman looked at him curiously.
"Oh, yes," she said. "Just a minute."
She got up and went into an inner room. After a moment, she came outand reclaimed her seat behind her desk.
"He's busy right now," she said. "I'll let you know when you can goin."
Don shrugged and sat down in one of the chairs that lined the wall. Itwasn't a very comfortable chair.
"The anxious seat," he growled to himself. "Nice, time-tested trick."
There was no reading material at hand, and the walls of the oddlyshaped room were blank. He amused himself by directing a blank staretoward the secretary. After a few minutes, she looked up from her workand jerked her head indignantly.
"Stop that," she ordered.
"Stop what?" Don looked innocent.
"Stop staring at me like that."
"Not staring at you," he told her. "I have to look somewhere and thechair faces your way. That's all."
The woman moved her hands. "Well, then face some other way."
"But I'd have to move the chair, and that would disturb yourarrangements," Don told her reasonably. He continued his blank stare.
The woman resumed her work, then twitched her shoulders and looked athim resentfully for a few seconds. Finally, she got up and went to theinner office again. Don waited.
Again, she came out.
"They'll see you now," she said.
Don got up.
"Thank you."
He went through the door.
To his right, a man sat behind a wide, highly polished desk. The otherwas across the room, at a smaller desk. Both looked up as the dooropened.
The man to Don's right nodded pleasantly.
"Well, so you're Donald Michaels? I'm Dr. Rayson."
"Yes, sir."
"That's good. Sit down." Rayson waved. "Right over there." He smiledconfidently.
"Ah, that's fine. I'm the school psychologist, you know. You have metMr. Masterson, the self-government faculty advisor, of course?"
Don nodded. "Of course. I'm in one of his classes."
"Well, that's good. Now, how do you feel this morning?"
"Quite well, thank you, sir."
"Well, then, we can talk about that little affair in the locker room,can't we? Your memory is clear on it by now, isn't it?"
Don nodded.
"Well, that's fine. Now, suppose you give us the whole story. Don'tleave out a thing. Then, we'll see what we can do for you."
Don smiled thinly, then flicked out a finger.
"I think that paper on your desk, sir, is the report I wrote lastnight. It's complete as it stands."
* * * * *
Masterson broke in, frowning. "We don't mean that thing," he saidcoldly. "What we want is a true, complete account of what actuallyhappened."
Don faced him, his face tightening a little.
"Dr. Rayson has just that, sir," he said. "On his desk. I wrote it. Isigned it."
Rayson raised a hand slightly.
"Just a moment," he said reprovingly. "There's no need for excitementor anger here. We're simply looking for a full, correct account." Hecleared his throat. "Perhaps it would be well for me to make thingsclearer to you. Then, you'll recognize the problem." He looked down atthe paper on the desk.
"You see, Donald," he continued, "we have already talked to a number ofother students about this. And we have a complete account of theincident in so far as it concerned Petoen Waern." He smiledindulgently.
"What we are now concerned about is your own well-being. We need toknow something of what happened to you after you were alone with theWaern boy." He spread his hands, then held them out, palms up.
"As to the actual physical action, that's quite simple. You see, therewere a number of witnesses to the affair, and most of them have comeforward." He rubbed his hands together, then laid them on the desk.
"So, we know precisely what happened that far.
"And we have a pretty good idea of what happened to you later, ofcourse. This sort of thing
has happened before. But by this time, youshould have had time to recover to a great extent. At least, you shouldremember things much more clearly than you did when you wrote thisreport last night." He touched the paper with a smile.
"And with a little prompting and information, you should be able tofully recover your memory."
The smile became sympathetic. "Of course, I can