“Don’t let anyone see that wound for an hour or so,” he whispered and rose to meet the alien’s eyes.

The man said, “Halfbreeds?” in English.

He snatched the language right out of my brain!

“You could have killed him,” Abbot said to the alien in the luren tongue. “There are very few of us, and the humans don’t know we’re here or that we breed on them as well as feed on them because no orl survived here. You must release them before it becomes impossible to explain, then leave them to me.”

Straining over Abbot’s accent, the alien asked in uncertain English, “I am your. prisoner?”

“No,” countered Abbot, also in English. “Their prisoner. We’ll get you out of this, but they mustn’t learn what we are.”

“Trapped in a herd of orl. A horror story.”

“Don’t stampede the herd,” said Abbot, “and we’ll all be safe.”

The man fixed on Titus. “I did not mean to hurt.”

Abbot asked, “He fought your orientation probe?” then repeated it using an unfamiliar luren term.

“He has not the capacity. I could not complete.”

Titus said, “I didn’t understand. You should have warned me; I wouldn’t have fought you. I’m sorry.”

“You must release the humans to me,” repeated Abbot.

“I understand. Halfbreeds and intelligent orl.”

Orl are considered animals.

“Release them to me and observe. One must be gentle with humans. Too much power can destroy their brains.”

God! Titus had never heard that, but he was sure Abbot meant it. Abbot had that kind of power; Titus didn’t.

Still holding Titus’s gaze, the man asked, “Should I do as he says? He is your father, as he claims?”

Abbot glared at Titus. Mouth dry, Titus rose to his feet. He didn’t dare oppose Abbot in front of a real luren. “He’s my father, but don’t do everything he says without thinking. This time, though-yes, do it.”

He squinted at the humans. “Will they attack?”

“No,” answered Abbot. “Let me show you how. Just wait until I put out the lights again.”

He measured Abbot again, then studied Titus. The panic had been replaced by wariness. “Good, and leave them out.”

“I can’t. These are the dim emergency lights. If they seem bright, the real lights will nearly blind you. Cover your eyes. We’re wearing protective lenses, and in a few minutes I’ll provide you with some special goggles.” With that, Abbot sidled around Mintraub who stood with one hand raised to the open panel, eyes unfocused. His fingers flew over the connections, and Titus realized Abbot had rigged the boards so he could have a power outage when he wanted one. “

The lights went out, and Abbot said, “Now. Release them to me.”

The alien emitted a low musical hum, and the pall of Influence gripping the room abated. At the same time, Abbot flicked the main lights on. Mintraub jumped back with a gasp. “Abbot! Where did you-”

Mirelle screamed. Sitting bolt upright, she crammed both fists in her mouth and whimpered. Then Titus saw that the alien had draped his sheet over his head and tied a fold of it over his eyes. He looked like a naked, albino Arab playing Blind Justice. But he can rip the language right out of a person’s brain! He was that powerful, and Abbot was manipulating him as if he were a helpless child.

“Quiet!” ordered Colby in a low, penetrating voice. “Get back from him. We don’t want to panic him.”

Mihelich strode up to her. “That hardly seems likely after what he just did. I’d say he has the upper hand.”

“You felt it too?” she looked around with a most peculiar expression. “It wasn’t just me?”

Abbot went to her, saying with a touch of Influence, “Titus, what did he do to you? The last I saw before the lights went out, he had grabbed you.”

“Yes,” said Mirelle getting to her feet, “and the world froze solid.”

There were murmurs of agreement as people checked chronometers. Titus interjected with a touch of Influence, trying to gloss over the lost interval, “He just grabbed me, but he didn’t hurt me. Then the lights came back on.”

Kaschmore said, “I lost at least six minutes.” There were murmurs of agreement.

Diving Belle added, “My recorder shows seven and one half minutes elapsed. Let me see what recorded.”

“It sounds to me,” said Abbot moving around to the woman, “as if our friend here has a formidable natural defense. But, even in panic, he didn’t use it to hurt anyone.” He lifted the recorder from the Belle’s hands and ran it fast over the segment while exerting Influence over all of them, including the single Brink’s guard by the outer door. Where is the other guard? When did he leave?

The humans heard dead silence on the recording while Titus listened to the chatter of speech at high speed. Then Abbot erased the segment from the recorder’s memory and handed it back to the Belle. “Set it up. Dr. Colby will no doubt want the rest of this recorded.”

All this while, the alien had been turning his head, matching them through the folds of cloth. Titus said, using his littlest Influence, “Perhaps we should get the man some dark glasses and a suit of clothes?”

Colby nodded. “Kaschmore, see to it.”

She waved a nurse toward the dressing room, while replying, “I wouldn’t know where to get dark glasses that had been sterilized.”

Abbot said, moving to a workbench, “I have some welding goggles here that might do for a while. Titus is right. It’s the gesture that counts. We wouldn’t want him to think he’s a prisoner and panic again.”

As the nurse brought the shapeless disposable suit to the alien, holding it out at arm’s length, Titus lifted it from the man’s grasp and shook out the two pieces to show what it was. Abbot came up with the goggles while Titus held the jacket for the alien’s arm and, cloaking his words with heavy Influence, Abbot muttered, “Say thank you in English and explain that you learned the language from Titus. Say as little as you can after that-plead exhaustion-we’ve got to get Titus out of here before his hunger rebounds.”

Twice, the alien started to say something else, stopped himself, then nodded. “This gesture means yes, correct?”

“That’s right,” said Abbot, cloaking the exchange.

“To show teeth is for friendship?”

“Yes,” grunted Abbot, then added, “Titus shouldn’t have fought you. You ought to be sure of these things.”

“I will learn. Titus will help.” But his hands shook.

Titus knelt to hold the pants under the alien’s dangling feet while Abbot helped him shed the cloth and don the goggles. When they were done, the alien stood beside the pedestal, grinned, revealing sharp teeth, and said in Titus’s intonation overlaid with another accent, “I thank you.”

“Good grief!” said Colby.

“I don’t believe this,” muttered Mirelle, white-lipped.

“This one provided me your language, and him I thank most profoundly for the gift.”

Abruptly, Titus’s knees sagged. He put a hand on Abbot’s elbow, and Abbot’s hand clasped over his. Abbot muttered to Titus, “Just a moment more. You can make it.” Aloud he said, “I suspected as much, from Titus’s dazed state. Dr. Colby, I think we should offer our visitor a proper room in which to rest and whatever else may be required for his comfort.” He turned to the alien. “Do you find it cold in here, uh, how would you like to be called, Sir?”

“H’lim is my name.”

“H’lim,” said Abbot with a creditable try at the luren accent. “We normally keep our rooms much warmer than this.”

“That is good news. I hope.”

Abbot named each of those in the chamber. Under his breath, Mihelich groaned, “Dear God, he’s talking to him as if he were a person.”

H’lim’s eyes flicked to Mihelich, but the man didn’t seem to notice. Colby, however, caught the comment and raised her arms for attention. “All right, folks, you’ve just witnessed the most important event in the recent history of mankind, but right now I think Abbot’s right. We must show our guest a reasonable amount of ordinary hospitality. How would you feel if you were in his place?”