In the after hold Jenkins and his Number Two Gang were bracing a large metal cage. Entering behind Lodar, Ray stared with mingled feelings at the captives behind the bars. "Why, they look like humans!" he gasped. No wonder so many people objected to the trade! They were slightly smaller than humans, with paler skin, and their hair was blond, almost ashen. They regarded their captors with large blue eyes, but the rustling of grass and skins in which they were dressed was the only sound they made. "Like our earliest type of man, perhaps," Lodar admitted. "But of a different evolution. No vocal cords." "Just dummies." Jenkins spoke up from behind Ray. "That's a lie!" The indignant voice was a woman's. Gripping the bars, she stared angrily out at them. She had the small figure of a Mute, but her bare arms were bronzed, and her hair was dark, in long curls. "They can talk." She shook the bars vigorously. "Release us, you sinners!" Lodar suddenly scowled. "You're no Venus Mute!" He grabbed her hand and twisted it over. The palm was small and pink, not the bluish white of a Mute. "Turn us loose, you heathen!" she raged, her large brown eyes aflame. "The Great Zipher will pour his wrath on you!" "A missionary!" Lodar snorted savagely. He whirled on Jenkins. "Who brought her in here?" he bellowed in sudden fury. Jenkins backed away, blinking his short-sighted eyes. "I--I don't know. I never seen her before." The captain turned back to Ray. "Help me get her out," he growled. Ray silently guarded the door while Lodar entered the cage and dragged the protesting girl outside. She refused to leave without the others, but Lodar grimly hauled her out and threw her clear of the door. "I ought to throw you off in space!" He eyed the girl viciously. Ray locked the door uneasily. Kidnaping a missionary would mean plenty of investigation. Earth zealously protected all its numerous and varied religious workers. This one, he knew, belonged to a very small sect--a cult founded in dim antiquity. "Wait till my father learns of this!" The girl was rubbing her elbows. "He'll call down the wrath of the Great Zipher on this--this ark of abominations! The grave will open to swallow you. Death and oblivion shall come, and everlasting torment--" "Shut up!" Lodar pushed the girl away. "Why you people waste your time on Mutes--" "They're not mute!" she stormed. "Woe to you, you--" "Shut up!" Lodar bawled. "Very well." She drew herself up to a full five feet, one. "I'll show you!" She went to the bars. "Emu! Emu! Tell this heathen what the Great Zipher says." One of the Mutes shuffled forward, a man with blank face. He drew a breath and recited in singsong tones. "The Great Zipher say, come unto me all ye who look for work, and I give." "See!" The girl turned imperiously. "Now, let them loose!" "A parrot!" Lodar snapped. "Come on above or do I drag you?"