"Who was telling--" the doctor began. But he was talking to empty air. Miss Twilley had run from the office. The doctor sighed and shrugged. Probably he shouldn't have told her. One never can tell how these things will work out. She had the diagnosis right and she looked like a pretty hard customer. But she certainly didn't act like one. * * * * * Panting with fear, Enid Twilley unlocked the door of her house and dashed into the living room. Thank G--, thank goodness! she thought with relief. The set was still working. The black tunnel was still there. "Help!" she screamed. "Lyf! Please! come back!" The blackness writhed and the Devi appeared. He was wearing an orange and purple striped outfit this time. Miss Twilley shuddered. "Well?" Lyf asked. "You were right," she said faintly. "The doctor says it's cancer. Will you cure me?" "For a price," Lyf said. "But you said--" "I said nothing except that I felt sorry for you and that I could cure you. Even your own doctors charge a fee." "There had to be a catch in it," Miss Twilley said bitterly. "It will be a fair price. It won't be excessive." "My soul?" Miss Twilley whispered. "Your soul? Ha! Just what would I do with your soul? It would be no use to me--assuming that you have one. No--I don't want your soul." "Then what do you want?" "Your body." "So _that's_ it!" Miss Twilley blushed a bright scarlet. "Hmm--with that color you're not bad looking." Lyf said. "Would you want my body right away?" "Of course not. That wouldn't be a fair contract. You should have use of it for a reasonable time on your homeworld. Say about ten years. After that it becomes mine." "How long?" "For the rest of your life." "That doesn't seem quite fair. I'm thirty-eight now. Ten years from now I'll be forty-eight. I'll live perhaps to eighty. That gives you over thirty years." "It gives you them, too," Lyf said. "But your world is alien." "Not entirely. There are quite a few humans on Hel. You'd have plenty of company." "I can imagine," she said drily. Lyf flinched. "I've told you I do not like those anthropomorphic references to my race." "So you say. But I don't trust you even though you've told me the truth about my body. I won't sell my soul." "I'll put a disclaimer in writing if that will satisfy you," Lyf said wearily. "I'm tired of haggling." "But will you obey it." "With us Devi, a contract is sacred. Even your mythology tells you that much." She nodded. "Of course, I'd want a few more things than health," she said. "I'd want to enjoy these ten years on earth." "That is understandable. I'll consider any reasonable request." "Beauty?" "As you humans understand it. Sarcoplasty isn't too difficult." "Wealth?"