"You closed the opening we came through," said Avery abruptly. "Of course." "But you'll open it again? You'll let us go?" The tone of his voice betrayed him. Falken knew, and Sheila. "No," said Sheila throatily. "It won't let us go. It'll keep us up here to play with, until we die." Ugly dark reds washed the Sun-child. "Death!" it whispered. "My creatures exist until I bid them vanish. But death, true death--that would be a supreme amusement!" * * * * * A desperate, helpless rage gripped Falken. The vast empty vault mocked him with his dead hopes. It jeered at him with solid walls that were built and shifted like smoke by the power of this lovely, soulless flame. Built, and shifted.... Sudden fire struck his brain. He stood rigid, stricken dumb by the sheer magnificance of his idea. He began to tremble, and the wild hope swelled in him until his veins were gorged and aching. He said, with infinite care, "You can't create real living creatures, can you?" "No," said the Sun-child. "I can build the chemicals of their bodies, but the vital spark eludes me. My creatures are simply toys activated by the electrical interplay of atoms. They think, in limited ways, and they feel crude emotions, but they do not live in the true sense." "But you can build other things? Rocks, soil, water, air?" "Of course. It would take a great deal of my strength, and it would weaken my shell, since I should have to break down part of the rock to its primary particles and rebuild. But even that I could do, without serious loss." There was silence. The blue distant fires flared in Falken's eyes. He saw the others staring at him. He saw the chances of failure bulk over him like black thunderheads, crowned with madness and death. But his soul shivered in ecstasy at the thing that was in it. The Sun-child said silkily, "Why should I do all this?" "For amusement," whispered Falken. "The most colossal game you have ever had." Brilliant colors flared. "Tell me, human!" "I must make a bargain first." "Why should I bargain? You're mine, to do with as I will." "Quite. But we couldn't last very long. Why waste your imagination on the three of us when you might have thousands?" Avery's amber eyes opened wide. A shocked incredulity slackened Sheila's rigid muscles. The voice cried: "Thousands of humans to play with?" The eager greed sickened Falken. Like a child wanting a bright toy--only the toys were human souls. "Not until the bargain is made," he said. "Well? What is the bargain? Quick!" "Let us go, in return for the game which I shall tell you." "I might lose you, and then have nothing." "You can trust us," Falken insisted. He was shaking, and his nerves ached. "Listen. There are thousands of my people, living like hunted beasts in the deserts of the Solar System. They need a world, to survive at all. If you'll build them one in the heart of this planet, I'll bring them here.