not easy to
have the carefully built-up falsehoods of a lifetime shattered. Only the
fact that she had seen something of other worlds enabled her to listen
at all.

The light of unreason was still in her eyes when he had finished,
telling her the things he and Kerk had discussed. She sat tensely,
pushed forward against Kerk's hands, as if they were the only things
that stopped her from leaping at Jason.

"Maybe that is too much to assimilate at one sitting," Jason said. "So
let's put it in simpler terms. I believe we can find a reason for this
unrelenting hatred of humans. Perhaps we don't smell right. Maybe I'll
find an essence of crushed Pyrran bugs that will render us immune when
we rub it in. I don't know yet. But whatever the results, we _must_ make
the investigation. Kerk agrees with me on that."

Meta looked at Kerk and he nodded agreement. Her shoulders slumped in
sudden defeat. She whispered the words.

"I ... can't say I agree, or even understand all that you said. But I'll
help you. If Kerk thinks that it is the right thing."

"I do," he said. "Now, do you want the clip back for your gun? Not
planning to take any more shots at Jason?"

"That was foolish of me," she said coldly while she reloaded the gun. "I
don't need a gun. If I had to kill him, I could do it with my bare
hands."

"I love you, too," Jason smiled at her. "Are you ready to go now?"

"Of course." She brushed a fluffy curl of hair into place. "First we'll
find a place where you can stay. I'll take care of that. After that the
work of the new department is up to you."

X.

There were empty rooms in one of the computer buildings. These were
completely sealed to keep stray animal life out of the delicate
machinery. While Meta checked a bed-roll out of stores, Jason painfully
dragged a desk, table and chairs in from a nearby empty office. When she
returned with a pneumatic bed he instantly dropped on it with a grateful
sigh. Her lip curled a bit at his obvious weakness.

"Get used to the sight," he said. "I intend to do as much of my work as
I can, while maintaining a horizontal position. You will be my strong
right arm. And right now, Right Arm, I wish you could scare me up
something to eat. I also intend to do most of my eating in the
previously mentioned prone condition."

Snorting with disgust, Meta stamped out. While she was gone, Jason
chewed the end of a stylus thoughtfully, then made some careful notes.

After they