Both moved fast and with exquisite control; both were extraordinarily graceful. "Snaky" was Belle's thought of the woman; "sinuous" was Garlock's of the man. Both were completely hairless, of body and of head--not by nature, but via electric-shaver clipping. Both wore sandals. The man wore shorts and a shirt-like garment of nylon or its like; the woman wore just enough ribbons and bands to hold a hundred thousand credits' worth of jewels in place. She appeared to be about twenty years--Tellurian equivalent--old; he was probably twenty-three or twenty-four. "We did not invite you in and we do not want you here," Semolo said, coldly. "So get out, both of you. If you don't, when I count three I'll throw you out, and I won't be too careful about how many of your bones I break. One.... Two...." "Pipe down, Rezdo!" the girl exclaimed. "They have something we haven't, or they wouldn't be here. Whatever it is, we want it." "Oh, let him try, Miss Mitala," Garlock said, through her hard-held block, in the depth of her mind. "He won't hurt us a bit and it may do him some good. While he's wasting effort I'll compare notes with my partner here, Galactic Vice-Admiral Belle Bellamy. I'm glad to see that one of you has at least a part of a brain." "... Three!" Semolo did his best, with everything he had, without even attracting Garlock's attention. He then tried to leap at the intruder physically, despite the latter's tremendous advantage in weight and muscle, but found that he could not move. Then, through Belle's solidly-set blocks, "How are you doing, ace? Getting anywhere?" "My God!" came Belle's mental shriek. "What--how can--but no, you _didn't_ give _that_ to Fao, surely!" "I'll say I didn't--nor to Delcamp. But you're going to need it, I'm thinking." "But _can_ you? Even if you _would_--and I'm just beginning to realize how big a man you really are--can that kind of stuff be taught? I probably haven't got the brain-cells it takes to handle it." "I'm not sure, but I've reworked our Prime Fields into one and made a couple of other changes. Theoretically, it ought to work. Shall I come in and try it?" "Don't be an idiot, darling. _Of course!_" * * * As impersonally as a surgeon exploring an organ, Garlock went into Belle's mind. "Tune to the field ... that's it--fine! Then--I'll do it real slow, and watch me close--you do like so ... get it?" "Uh-huh!" Belle breathed, excitedly. "Got it!" "Then this ... and this ... and there you are. You can try it on me, if you like." "Uh-uh. No sale. I don't need practice and I'd like to preserve the beautiful illusion that maybe I _could_ crack your shield if I wanted to. I'll work on Miss Snake-Hips here, the serpentine charmer--but say, I'll bet there's a bone in it. _You_ can block it, can't you?" "Yes. It goes like this." He showed her. "It takes full mastery of the Prime Field, but you've got that."