She came very close to him, then, and what might have been sorrow was in her face, her eyes. "I've told you, Shane. To me, life is a sacred thing ... more sacred than you can ever dream. To see it wasted as yours would have been is the sin above all sin. And there was Reggar. After you'd told me the things you did, how could I believe him? How could I trust him? I had to get away from him, and quickly. If I could do it and save you, too, would I not have been a fool to throw away the chance?" He turned on her. "But where is your home--your moon, your planet? Why do your people need slaves--?" She shook her head sadly. "I am sorry, Shane, truly sorry. But those secrets are not mine to tell ... unless--" "Unless what--?" "Unless you are willing to travel with me ... to take the road Quos Reggar took." Again her hand was on his arm, her silvery body close to his. A note of tension crept into her voice. "Because we need slaves, Shane! You cannot know how desperately we need them! Nor is it hard. They do not suffer...." For a moment the Earthman stood there with her, and her hand left his arm and came up to caress his cheek. "If you would but learn to understand us ... there is so much to learn." Shane swayed a little. His blue eyes dulled, and his breathing was shallow, uneven. The woman's eyes mirrored indefinable things, things old beyond all measure. Shane stood rigid. Then, jerkily, he pulled away. "I don't care why you need slaves," he said thickly. "It doesn't matter how you treat them--" The silver woman spread her hands. "You see--?" "But your people could work out a better way--" "No." The word rang final. "For us there is--can be--no better way." Shane's lips twisted. The dullness was gone from his eyes now. "Then, Kyrsis, we can never meet. You have picked your people's road, and I have taken the _Chonya_ way." "But then--" "There can be nothing more. But you saved my life, and I must buy it back. So I'll land you at Horla, on Mars, and set you free, and you can go your way." He turned to go. Then the woman said: "Your throat, _Gar_ Shane!" The Earthman pivoted, face hard. "Yes?" "There are flecks of green beneath the jaw--a slight eruption of the skin." "I saw it in a mirror a while ago," Shane answered tightly. "It goes with _theol_." "The first injection," the silver woman nodded, and now her smile was lazy, taunting. "With the second, the welts grow darker. After the third there are ... more obvious symptoms." "You saved my life," Shane said, thin-lipped. "I'll see you safe to Mars." He wheeled and left the room. * * * * * The committee on the interterrestrial slave trade was listening to a speaker from Titan when Shane reached the Federation chambers. "Slavers? I can give you two names for slavers!" the Titanian cried out in a frenzy. "One is _Chonya_ and the other is _Malya_! And those are the names for 'pirate,' too, and 'cutthroat' and 'thief and 'hypocrite'!"