with moisture, sparkling in the sun. She had not seen him. He stopped,
holding his breath, watching her.

She was lovely, very lovely, with long dark hair that wound around her
shoulders and arms. Her body was slim, very slender, with a supple grace
to it that made him stare, accustomed as he was to various forms of
anatomy. How silent she was! Silent and unmoving, staring down at the
water. Time passed, strange, unchanging time, as he watched the girl.
Time might even have ceased, with the girl sitting on the rock staring
into the water, and the rows of great ferns behind her, as rigid as if
they had been painted there.

All at once the girl looked up. Harris shifted, suddenly conscious of
himself as an intruder. He stepped back. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "I'm
from the Garrison. I didn't mean to come poking around."

She nodded without speaking.

"You don't mind?" Harris asked presently.

"No."

So she spoke Terran! He moved a little toward her, around the side of
the pool. "I hope you don't mind my bothering you. I won't be on the
asteroid very long. This is my first day here. I just arrived from
Terra."

She smiled faintly.

"I'm a doctor. Henry Harris." He looked down at her, at the slim coppery
body, gleaming in the sunlight, a faint sheen of moisture on her arms
and thighs. "You might be interested in why I'm here." He paused. "Maybe
you can even help me."

She looked up a little. "Oh?"

"Would you like to help me?"

She smiled. "Yes. Of course."

"That's good. Mind if I sit down?" He looked around and found himself a
flat rock. He sat down slowly, facing her. "Cigarette?"

"No."

"Well, I'll have one." He lit up, taking a deep breath. "You see, we
have a problem at the Garrison. Something has been happening to some of
the men, and it seems to be spreading. We have to find out what causes
it or we won't be able to run the Garrison."

* * * * *

He waited for a moment. She nodded slightly. How silent she was! Silent
and unmoving. Like the ferns.

"Well, I've been able to find out a few things from them, and one very
interesting fact stands out. They keep saying that something
called--called The Pipers are responsible for their condition. They say
the Pipers taught them--" He stopped. A strange look had flitted across
her dark, small face. "Do you know the Pipers?"

She nodded.

Acute satisfaction flooded over Harris. "You do? I was sure the natives
would kn