lse can I do?"

"I beg your pardon?" Tensor murmured happily. "I do not understand you."

"Oh well," she breathed softly, smiling a crooked little smile. "Neither
one of us will ever know when it happens. A pity to spoil it so soon,
though."

In his unaccustomed confusion, Tensor could not follow her thought, but
he could grasp the immediate situation. He grinned and nuzzled her
affectionately, and decided to stay a while longer.

* * * * *

Curl was floating langorously in his comfortable focus, eyes half closed
and glazed, mouth droolingly limp and hands carelessly askew. He formed
his hyperimage to appear erect and neat--and with a politely interested
expression--while he idly contemplated the telepathic picture being
projected into his own mind.

"I see you've recovered," he said. "Splendid."

"Yes, but what an ordeal," Tensor replied. His image took on the
appearance of a relieved smile. "If it ever happens again--I don't
know."

"It was that bad?" Curl showed suitable lazy civilized sympathy. "I was
afraid. All that teleporting of yourself and things."

"It took me almost ten minutes to recover from it," Tensor said grimly.

"Tsk tsk. That's a lot of lactic acid to locate and destroy. But the
Council will appreciate it, even if Prime did complain, poor fellow."

"Well, I promised to investigate and I'm a man of my thought. Of course,
the curiosity vanished as soon as I got into actual communication with
one of them."

"They communicate?" Curl permitted his image to appear mildly
astonished, which was the only civilized thing to do. "Tell me about
it."

"It's crude, but in some things successful," Tensor explained. "The
alien I contacted was a female, for instance. When I adjusted for
relative somatic sympathy so that I could stand the poor, uncivilized
creature, I naturally acquired the full appetites of a male animal and
this female seemed to understand some of my thoughts very well.

"You simply can't imagine the violent somatic compulsions one encounters
under such a balance."

"Horrible," agreed Curl. "But I understand, my boy. I once fathered a
child--must have been at least a couple of thousand years ago. Purely
out of scientific interest, of course, and never again." The physician
paused and added, "Matter of fact, it's quite likely that you're that
child. Can't ever tell about these things, you know."

Tensor nodded in polite agreement and continued with h