"Shar Bytu sent me to you," she informed him. "My thanks to Shar Bytu," replied Jonathan, throwing aside the fur and rising. Someone had clothed him while he slept. He wore thin trousers that clung to his ankles and bellied outward as they went up. A broad leathern belt fitted snugly around his waist. His great chest was naked. Fur sandals protected his feet. The girl was likewise clad, with bare midriff and a halter of white fur about her breasts. "This is the universal garb for counsellors of our make," the girl said. "Others wear different clothes. Still others wear none, having no sex." "I'm Jonathan Morgan. Do Zarathzans--er--have any names?" "Silly. Of course. I'm Adatha Za." Jonathan grinned and said, "Glad to know you. And now that introductions are over, suppose you let me in on the big secret around here. Just what am I doing on Neeoorna?" * * * * * Adatha Za was startled. "You do not know? Didn't Shar Bytu tell--but perhaps he left that to me, seeing that I am not a--reptile." Jonathan looked her over and laughed, "I'm mighty glad you're not," and he noticed that Adatha Za--whose civilization was eons beyond that of Earth--looked pleased. They walked toward a balcony overlooking a bed of scarlet flowers patterned between strips of green grass. Great lights beamed into the blackness of the Neeoornian night from high on the parapets, lighting the scene before them. And high in the heavens, black and moving against the blue of the starry sky, strange shadows chased one another between the stars. Adatha Za lifted a bare arm and pointed to that great blotch in the heavens. Her arm trembled against Jonathan even as she pointed, and he read stark fear in her eyes and in the drooping corners of her scarlet mouth. "You see those black flames? No one knows what they are. They kill us, one by one, when we attempt to fight them. They are growing. Already they have eaten one of the moons of this planet. Soon they will reach Neeoorna itself--indeed, they are past the fringe of the heavenside. And after Neeoorna they will eat the twin suns, and other suns and other planets. Zarathza and Earth, too. There will be nothing beyond the black flames, Earthling. It will eat our entire universe!" Jonathan was aware that his spine tingled, looking up. He felt deep inside him, the _alienness_ of those dancing darknesses. They were not of the known universe. They came from somewhere outside, from another world. So different from Earth that their mere presence spelled doom for anything normal to his world. Unhidden, they had emerged from some deeper space, and were voyaging across his, advancing inexorably, like flames of fire lapping across thin paper. The girl's bare shoulder pressed his, trembling. "I'm frightened, Earthman," she whispered. "When I think of Zarathza in the path of that--those blights from hell, I--oh, I don't know how to say it!"