She said, "We had information on you from the moment you entered the orbit of Earth, Abner--or should I say Aar Khiilom?" "How did you know that name?" She laughed lightly. "The same way I knew you were from Darruu, the same way I knew the exact moment you were going to come out of your room before." "The same way you knew I was coming here to kill you just now?" She nodded. Harris frowned. "Medlins aren't telepathic. There isn't a single telepathic race in the galaxy." "None that _you_ know about, anyway." "What do you mean by that?" "Nothing," she said. He shrugged. Apparently the Medlin spy system was formidably well organized. This nonsense about telepathy was merely to cloud the trail. But the one fact about which there was no doubt was-- "I came here to kill you," Harris said. "But you trapped me. I guess you'll kill me now." "Wrong. I just want to talk," she said. "If you want to talk, put some clothing on. Having you sitting around like this disturbs my powers of conversation." She said pleasantly, "Oh? You mean this artificial body of mine stirs some response in that artificial body of yours? How interesting!" Without turning her back on him, she drew a robe from the closet and slipped it on over the filmy gown. "There. Is that easier on your glandular balance?" "Somewhat." The Darruui began to fidget. There was no way he could activate his emergency signal without moving his hands, and any sudden hand-motion was likely to be fatal. He sat motionless while sweat streamed down the skin they had grafted to his own. Beth said, "You're one of ten Darruui on Earth. Others are on their way, but there are only ten of you here now. Correct me if I'm wrong." "Why should I?" Harris said tightly. She nodded. "A good point. But I assure you we have all the information about you we need, so you needn't try to make up tales. To continue: you and your outfit are here for the purpose of subverting Terran allegiance and winning Earth over to the side of Darruu." "And you Medlins are here for much the same kind of reason." "That's where you're wrong," the girl said. "We're here to help the Terrans, not to dominate them. We Medlins don't believe in violence if peaceful means will accomplish our goals." "Very nice words," Harris said. "But how can _you_ help the Terrans?" "It's a matter of genetics. This isn't the place to explain in detail." He let that pass. "So you deliberately threw yourself in contact with me earlier, let me take you out to dinner, walked around arm-in-arm--and all this time you knew I was a disguised Darruui?" "Of course. I also knew that when you pretended to be sick it was because you had to contact your chief operative, and that when you said you were going to visit a friend you were attending an emergency rendezvous. I also knew what your friend Carver was going to tell you to do, which is why I had my gun ready when you rang."