ll the overwhelming fragrance of her perfume.

She put one hand on his arm, and Wayne found that he had neither the
strength nor the inclination to jerk away.

But he protested weakly, "Now, listen, there's no point in you--I
mean--even if we did, I couldn't produce a high dragon bump."

"What kind of work do you do, mister?" Sheilah asked softly, drawing
herself even closer. "You know, you ain't even told me your name yet."

"It's Wayne," he said, fumbling in an effort to loosen his tie so he
could breath more easily. "I'm an instructor. I teach physics at Kyler
College, and I've got a weekly science show on TV. In fact I'd just
finished my show when they got me. I was leaving the studio, starting
down the stairs. Thought at first I'd missed a step and was falling, but
I just kept falling. And I landed here, and ... Now, don't do that!"

"Why, I wasn't doing nothing. Whaddya do on your TV show?"

"I talk. About science. Physics. Like today, I was discussing the
H-bomb. How it works, you know, and why the fallout is dangerous,
and ... Oh, good Gawd! Seduce, reduce! High dragon bump!"

He shoved her away from him abruptly and violently and he went hurtling
in the opposite direction.

"Well, hey!" Sheilah protested. "You don't need to get so rough. I
wasn't going to--"

"Shut up," Wayne said. "I think I've figured out what the Cirissins
want!

"Hey! Hey, open the door," he shouted. "I've got to talk to you."

The door opened and a Cirissin floated in.

Sheilah turned her head away, shuddering, and Wayne found it wise to
close his eyes and open them little by little to grow re-accustomed to
the sight gradually.

The only thing he could think of with which to compare the Cirissins was
the intestinal complex of an anemic elephant.

It was not an entirely satisfactory comparison; but then, from his point
of view, the Cirissins were entirely unsatisfactory creatures.

Each of the four he had seen was nearly twice his size. They had no
recognizable features such as eyes, ears, nose, head, arms or legs.

Tentacle-like protrusions of various size and length seemed to serve as
the sensory and prehensile organs. Wayne had identified one waving,
restless flexible stalk as the eye. He suspected another of being the
mouth, except that it apparently wasn't used for talking. The voice came
from somewhere deep inside the convoluted mass of pastel-streaked
tissue.

"Wand tog?" the Cirissin rumbled.

Wayne said, "Yes.