"There's nothing wrong in capturing these Mutes," he snapped. "They're not human. We don't mistreat them!" "How long do they live in captivity?" she demanded bitterly. "A few months, a year or two, and then they die. On strange planets, cut off from all their kind, they die miserably." He gave it up. When Lodar heard of this he shook his head and guffawed. "You're too easy, Burk. Perhaps Campora can do better." "She'll come to her senses in time," Ray urged. Above all, he didn't want Campora turned loose on the girl. "Give me time." "Yea." Lodar's smile was grimly mocking. "In time she'll make a complete sucker of you! But it might be diverting. Go ahead!" III The very vastness of space lends a sense of security from detection. The enormous speed required to cover the parsecs between systems gives advantage to those who elude the patrols. The _Vulcan_, bound for Earth, streaked through the blackness like a swift needle in illimitable space. Its sensitive detector beams probed the spangled cosmos for danger. Inside, the crews changed shift and slept, lulled by the warm hum of converters. It was a secure little world of glittering lights and steel, no different from the many Company ships which Ray had flown in the past. He was standing in the warm hold, staring through the bars at the Mutes. Their large eyes turned to his, but there was no other sign of awareness, life. They were delicately built, almost like children. No wonder they made appealing pets, semi-slaves. Almost angrily Ray shook the bars. "Can't you talk," he growled. There was an uneasy movement, but no answer. "Speak up, you dumbbells!" He grew impatient under the silent stares. Impatient with himself for trying to make them talk, as if that would solve anything! Yet, they seemed so intelligent. They were clothed, they had some sort of local government. Surely they must be able to communicate. But they only stared! He had a fleeting impression as if they were sorry for him. He wondered suddenly if they were telepathic. He concentrated on the idea, but no inkling came. Only blankness. They were just animals. They had to be. Abruptly he left the hold and climbed to the upper deck. In the corridor Williams stopped him. "I hear we're still headed for Earth, Sir." The man's dark face held a worried look. "Yes." Ray waited, but the other only shuffled his feet in uncomfortable silence, so he turned toward the girl's cabin. Ellenor would know the answer. "Are those Mutes telepathic?" he demanded almost savagely of her. The whole idea was unwelcome. In fact, his interest in the Mutes was like a foolish obsession! "No." She stared at him a long while. "They know how people feel," she said at last. "They know how everything feels--animals, plants, and even the soil." "That's nothing. I know how people feel."