He stared at her. "Suppose I _hadn't_ gotten that emergency message. We were going to come here and drink and probably make love. Would you have gone to bed with me even knowing what you knew?" "Most likely," she said without emotion. "It would have been interesting to see what sort of biological reactions the Darruui surgeons are capable of building." * * * * * A flash of hatred ran through Harris-Khiilom. He had been raised to hate Medlins anyway; they were the ancestral enemies of his people, galactic rivals for four thousand years or more. Only the fact that she was clad in the flesh of a handsome Earthgirl had kept Harris from feeling his normal revulsion for a Medlin. But now it surged forth at this revelation of her calm and callous biological "curiosity." He wondered how far her callousness extended. Also, how good her aim was. He mastered his anger and said, "That's a pretty cold-blooded way of thinking, Beth." "Maybe. I'm sorry about it." "I'll bet you are." She smiled at him. "Let's forget about that, shall we? I want to tell you a few things." "Such as?" "For one: did you know that you're fundamentally disloyal to the Darruui cause?" Harris laughed harshly. "You're crazy!" "Afraid not. Listen to me, Abner. You're homesick for Darruu. You never wanted to come here in the first place. You were born into a caste that has certain obligations, and you're fulfilling those obligations. But you don't know very much about what you're doing here on Earth, and for half a plugged unit you'd give the whole thing up and go back to Darruu." "Very clever," he said stonily. "Now give me my horoscope for the next six months." "Easy enough. You'll come to our headquarters and learn why my people are on Earth--" "I know that one already." "You _think_ you do," she said smoothly. "Don't interrupt. You'll learn why we're on Earth; once you've seen that, you'll join us and help to protect Earth against Darruu." "And why will I do all these incredible things?" "Because it's in your personality makeup to do them. And because you're falling in love." "With a lot of fake female flesh plastered over a scrawny Medlin body? Hah!" She remained calm. Harris measured the distance between them, wondering whether she would use the weapon after all. A disruptor broiled the neural tissue; death was instantaneous and fairly ghastly. He decided to risk it. His assignment was to kill Medlins, not to let himself be killed by them. He had nothing to lose by making the attempt. In a soft voice he said, "You didn't answer. Do you really think I'd fall in love with something like _you_?" "Biologically we're Earthers now, not Medlins or Darruui. It's possible." "Maybe you're right. After all, I _did_ ask you to cover yourself up." He smiled and said, "I'm all confused. I need time to think things over." "Of course. You--"