"Atavistic," agreed Chafi Four. "They could even _lie_ to each other." But their dilemma remained. They must warn the natives before the prowling Zid found them, else there would be no natives. "We must try again," Three concluded, "searching out and using the proper symbols for explanation." "Vocally," said Chafi Four. They shuddered and teleported. * * * The sudden reappearance of his hallucination--doubled--startled Jeff no more than the fact that he seemed to be holding Jennifer Mack tightly. Amazingly, his immediate problem was not the possibility of harm from the owls, but whether he should reassure Jennifer before or after releasing her. He compromised by leaving the choice to her. "They can't be dangerous," he said. "There are no land-dwelling predators on Calaxia. I read that in--" [Illustration] "Nothing like _that_ ever hatched out on Calaxia," said Jennifer. She pulled free of him. "If they're real, they came from somewhere else." The implication drew a cold finger down Jeff's spine. "That would mean other cultures out here. And in all our years of planet-hunting, we haven't found one." Memory chilled him further. "A ship landed inland a few minutes ago," he said. "I took it for an EI consulate craft, but it could have been--" The Ciriimians caught his mental image of the landing and intervened while common ground offered. "The ship was ours," said Chafi Three. He had not vocalized since fledgling days and his voice had a jarring croak of disuse. "Our Zid escaped its cage and destroyed two of us, forcing us to maroon it here for our own safety. Unfortunately, we trusted our star manual's statement that the planet is unpopulated." The Terrans drew together again. "Zid?" Jeff echoed. Chafi Four relieved his fellow of the strain by trying his own rusty croak. "A vicious Canthorian predator, combing the island at this moment for prey. You must help us to recapture it." "So that you may identify it," Chafi Three finished helpfully, "the Zid has this appearance." His psi projection of the Zid appeared on the dock before them with demoniac abruptness--crouched to leap, twin tails lashing and its ten-foot length bristling with glassy magenta bristles. It had a lethal pair of extra limbs that sprang from the shoulders to end in taloned seizing-hands, and its slanted red eyes burned malevolently from a snouted, razor-fanged face. It was too real to bear. Jeff stepped back on suddenly unreliable legs. Jennifer fainted against him and the unexpected weight of her sent them both sprawling to the dock. "We lean on weak reeds," Chafi Three said. "Creatures who collapse with terror at the mere projection of a Zid can be of little assistance in recapturing one." Chafi Four agreed reluctantly. "Then we must seek aid elsewhere." * * * * *