Then he was contracting, willing the motes and particles of his body together, shooting downward toward a vast stretch of green sward and rounded white buildings that sprawled gracefully over mile after mile of land. The black flames burned, forgotten. He dropped lightly onto his feet on the smooth lawn, felt it give beneath his feet. "Congratulations," said a deep voice behind him, and Jonathan whirled. A gigantic lizard faced him. It stood fifteen feet high, possessed of powerful legs and massive, armoured body. The great reptilian head swayed slightly in regarding him, and the eyes on either side of the broad nostrils were alive with intelligence. "You--you're a reptile!" Jonathan gasped. "And you--a man," replied the creature. Jonathan grinned and said, "I think I was prepared for any form of life but yours. Even pure thought, or beings of non-carbon basic formation. I--hmm. Strikes me we understand each other pretty well." The reptile looked puzzled, then grunted. "I forgot you came from Earth. Earth is a young planet. Her--ah--inhabitants have not made the progress some of our other neighbors have. That is why--why you were changed, a little. I'll tell you of that, later. "But now you must come with me and rest. While your body is unaffected, your mind has been under a terrific concentrative strain. It would cause a reaction unless rested. You see, you do not have certain--ah--facilities as yet. Being as you are is too new." "Just what am I? I understand your language, or your thoughts, and I've done things I'd have said were impossible, two weeks ago." "You will learn. Now you must rest." * * * * * Jonathan walked with the lumbering being along a crushed stone walk between hedges adroop with riotously colored fruits. Ahead of them glimmered a building, translucently white in the hot beams of the great double-sun now low on the horizon. "Life forms vary," said the big reptile. "Here on Neeoorna the reptile life that became extinct on Earth flourished. It evolved more swiftly, due to atmospheric and other conditions. Its intelligence kept pace. In other systems there are things of thought, there are beings with liquid helium in their veins, there are certain others with no veins at all. "And then, to cheer you, there are still others who might well be named men. They are men, too. They are what you would call human. They have bodies exactly similar to your own. You shall meet them. All manner of beings live on Neeoorna these days." His voice was heavy. Jonathan glanced quickly at him, sympathetic. "Something wrong?" The reptile shook his head soberly, saying, "You will learn, in time." A thick glassine door slid noiselessly apart as Jonathan and the Neeoornian neared it. They passed into cool halls of veined green marble lighted so brilliantly that Jonathan remarked it.