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"You know Dr. Zinder built in a prohibition to prevent my doing certain things to her."

Yulin nodded. "Not strong enough. Not nearly strong enough. And some of it I can undo. Okay, new subject is to be 160 centimeters high, female, age seventeen standard, the following dimensions."

Slowly, carefully, he described his Venus. He gave her all of the modifications to sensory apparatus and immunities he'd given himself, including the camouflage ability and digestive-system versatility. Strength, too; great strength, but managed by an alteration in her internal structure and not something that would mar her exceptional beauty.

And a few things more.

"Mentally, subject shall retain all memories and sense of identity, except she shall look upon herself as my slave and my property, and she will consider this right and just and proper, normal in all ways. She will be totally obedient to my wishes, totally devoted to me and my wants, desires, and needs, to the exclusion of all else. Understand?"

"Sure, Ben. You want a human Dasheen cow," Obie cracked. "It is unfortunately within my limits. Is that all?"

"For now," he told the computer. "Lock and run. Now."

It took the same eight seconds or so. He stared down in anticipation, and he wasn't disappointed. She was absolutely the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

Her daughter he made a twin of the new Nikki, except he replaced Nikki's black flowing hair with auburn, so he could tell them apart at a distance.

He called for them to come to him, and they did, joyfully, almost throwing themselves on him in adoration.

"All right, girls!" he laughed. "First, I think maybe we'll explore our new bodies. Then you'll run a few errands for me while I work with Obie on getting us back where we belong."

"Oh, yes, Ben!" they both sighed in anticipation.

* * *

A few hours later he was ready; they had been intensely pleasurable hours, not at all wasted, but now to business.

"Obie?"

"Yes, Ben?"

"Are your external sensors still operable along the main shaft?" Although the computer was blind Topside, it could see the Underside area around the shaft leading to the big dish that still locked on the Well of Souls.

"Operational, Ben."

He nodded. "Okay. Any life forms Underside?"

"None that I can detect, Ben—although I don't seem to be able to detect the Yugash too well unless it's in visual range. My sensors weren't designed for energy creatures."

He understood that. "But we're all immune to its takeover, right?" The computer assured him they were. Yulin continued. "All right, then." He turned to the two women, unable to overcome his delight at their beauty.

"Girls, you know what to do now." They nodded in unison. He turned back to Obie. "Defense mode off, Obie. Defense mode will be off automatically on their return unless they are under coercion. Return to defense mode when they clear the door into the control center. Clear?"

"Clear, Ben."

"And Obie—don't forget. Not a word of this to anybody."

"You know I can't now," the computer responded grumpily. "Defense mode off."

The two women walked to the door, it opened, and they passed quickly out. It slid shut behind them.

Yulin returned to Obie. "You've been talking to Gil Zinder all along, haven't you?" he accused.

"Yes, Ben, I cannot tell a lie," Obie replied. "I thought you'd want to talk to him sooner or later."

"Maybe not," he said thoughtfully. "Obie, did the two of you work on the problem of freeing you from the Well?"

"Yes, Ben."

"Did you solve it?"

"Yes, Ben."

Aha! So much for problems, they vanished like magic, he thought smugly.

"Procedure?" he asked in anxious anticipation.

As Obie told him, he realized the logic of it and cursed himself for not having seen it himself. The solution was so simple it might have been overlooked for decades—of course, he was still rusty, he reminded himself. But there was a feeling of power in him beyond anything he'd ever known, and the confidence that he not only could do anything, he would do everything.

He would make no mistakes, he assured himself. Everything was to be thought