"My skin is different," Donald interrupted thoughtfully as he inspected himself. "It feels thicker. And I don't feel cold, although I'll bet it's nearly freezing outside." "Don! Don't you understand? That dream was real!" Edith said. "Of course it was,--unless _this_ is a dream. We could be having a nightmare about a nightmare...." I looked at Ven. "Just what did you do to them?" I asked. She glowed guiltily. "I didn't know it would take their hair off," she said. "I was worried about their scratches, and the insects were biting them. So I made them rub on some of our skin conditioner." I raised my digits toward the sky. "There is an Authority that looks over fools and Thalassan females," I said. "What made you so sure our conditioner would work on them? It might have been poisonous." "I tried it on the male first," Ven said. "Genius," I breathed with icy sarcasm, "sheer genius!" "Well," she said, "it worked!" The eternal pragmatist had applied her sole criterion. "And what's more they looked and smelled lots better after they used it." I shrugged, gave it up and turned my attention back to the mammals. Edith had emerged from her sack and was standing before the male. "Do I look like a nightmare?" she demanded. "No. More like a skinned rabbit--ouch! What did you do that for?" He rubbed his face where she struck him with her digits. "There!" Edith said. "_Now_ do you think it's a dream?" "I never did," he replied mildly. "I've never dreamed in my life. I was just breaking it to you easy. It was real enough--even the blank spaces. I wonder--" "You wonder what?" "What their reason was for capturing us and then letting us go. It doesn't make sense. They wouldn't grab us just for fun. They're obviously intelligent, and probably thought we would be useful to them. But they turned us loose. So we couldn't be useful except maybe for amusement--but that doesn't jell. No. They've done something to us. They've let us go for a reason." * * * * * "Stop analyzing!" Edith said. "Why don't you just get scared, like I am!" "I _am_," he said, "but I like to figure things out. If I know what frightens me, it doesn't bother me so much." "Do that while we're on the way home. Get your clothes on and let's get out of here! Right away!" "We have to pack." "Oh, leave it! Let's get out while we can!" "I don't think we're in any danger," he said. "Well--I don't want to stay here a minute longer!" "All right. We'll go. But we'll pack first. Look at it logically. They had us cold. We didn't escape. We were _let_ go. So why, if they didn't want us then, should they want us now?" "Unless they can get us any time they want us." "You have a point there, but if that's the case, they can get us anyway. So let's pack." "You can pack if you want to. I'm leaving!" Edith pulled the opening to the tent and slipped out. "Edith!" Donald cried. "Wait!" I touched Ven. "Stop her," I said.