"Silence!" roared the giant mongrel. He pivoted to face the woman. "Can you not see this _yodor_ Earthman's goal, _Shi_ Kyrsis? Is it not plain enough that he seeks to brew distrust between us, in the hope that out of it he can snatch a chance to break us both, and save his hide and his beloved _Chonyas_?" Slowly, the woman nodded. "Perhaps ... yes, probably." "And is there anyone but me who'll bring you slaves by the thousands?" Reggar pressed on, relentless. "Where else can you find these lives you're seeking?" The woman made no answer. "But why?" Shane cut in fiercely. "Where is your home, that you still need slaves? Work is for machines, and power is free. Why throw away living beings upon it?" The silver woman stared. "You mean--you do not know--?" "No! Quiet!" choked Reggar. "Have you gone mad, _Shi_ Kyrsis? This man would destroy us. He must not know." The silver woman looked from the mongrel to Shane and back again. "Then ... how do you plan--?" Quos Reggar shrugged. "The _theol_ will make him ours. Three injections, spaced one Earth day apart, give the habit." He turned, leered at Shane. "Do you know about _theol_, great _gar_? Have you heard what it does--how it paralyzes the will of even the strongest?" "I know," Shane answered bleakly. "Call it madness, not habit. It works on the brain a hundred times worse than wormwood--and a thousand times faster." "You live for it," the mongrel nodded, chuckling. "Night and day, you dream of it, they say. You'll steal for it, fight for it, kill for it. With every dose, you need it more. And nowhere is there a cure." Shane said nothing. Reggar gestured to the guards. They caught Shane's arms once more; held him rigid. Reggar drew an injector from inside his tunic; then a bottle. Quickly, he filled the needle and inserted the gas ampule. Still Shane stood silent, stoney-faced. Kyrsis said: "Why must you have it this way, Earthman? Give your sworn word that you'll serve us, and Reggar will put away the _theol_." "I'd rather take the _theol_," Shane answered tightly. "But why, Earthman? Why?" Shane's laugh was bitter, curt. "It is a thing you would not understand, _Shi_ Kyrsis. On Earth, they call it conscience." A shadow seemed to pass across the silver woman's pale, lovely face. The violet eyes were suddenly uncertain. "I--I do not know...." "You never will," Shane answered. Coldly, contemptuously, he met her gaze. "But the time will come, I promise you, when you'll know that I did not lie about Reggar--that no matter what he says, you cannot trust him. Even now--here, today, this very minute--he is planning to betray you." "But how--?" "Why bother to tell you more? You would not believe me. But when the day arrives, say to yourself just once, 'I had my chance; the Earthman warned me'." "Hold him tight!" Reggar warned the guards angrily. "The _theol_ will put an end to his mumblings!" * * * * *