turned his head to
Dasinger, inquired, "Would you prefer to question him yourself,
Dasinger?"

Dasinger hesitated, startled; but Graylock's expression did not change.
Dasinger shook his head. "Very smooth, doctor!" he commented. "No, go
ahead. You're obviously the expert here."

"Very well ... Graylock," Dr. Egavine resumed, "you will cooperate with
me fully and to the best of your ability now, knowing that I am both
your master and friend. Are any of the other men who came here on those
two ships down by the water still alive?"

There was complete stillness for a second or two. Then Graylock's face
began to work unpleasantly, all color draining from it. He said harshly,
"No. But I ... I don't ..." He stammered incomprehensibly, went silent
again, his expression wooden and set.

"Graylock," Egavine continued to probe, "you can remember everything
now, and you are not afraid. Tell me what happened to the other men."

Sweat covered the castaway's ashen face. His mouth twisted in agonized,
silent grimaces again. The bird thing leaped from his shoulder with a
small purring sound, fluttered softly away.

Dr. Egavine repeated, "You are not afraid. You can remember. What
happened to them? How did they die?"

And abruptly the big man's face smoothed out. He looked from Egavine to
Dasinger and back with an air of brief puzzlement, then explained
conversationally, "Why, Hovig's generator killed many of us as we ran
away from the Antares. Some reached the edges of the circle with me, and
I killed them later."

Dr. Egavine flicked another glance towards Dasinger but did not pause.

"And the crew of the second ship?" he asked.

"Those two. They had things I needed, and naturally I didn't want them
alive here."

"Is Hovig's generator still on the Antares?"

"Yes."

"How does the generator kill?"

Sweat suddenly started out on Graylock's face again, but now he seemed
unaware of any accompanying emotions. He said, "It kills by fear, of
course...."

* * * * *

The story of the Dosey Asteroids raider and of Hovig's fear generators
unfolded quickly from there. Hovig had developed his machines for the
single purpose of robbing the Dosey Asteroids Shipping Station. The plan
then had been to have the Antares cruise in uncharted space with the
looted star hyacinths for at least two years, finally to approach the
area of the Federation from a sector far removed from the Dosey system.
That p