d oozing
from the corner of his lipless mouth, hate radiating from him in
palpable waves.

Albert stood over him, panting a little from the brief but violent
scuffle. "Now, Shifaz, you're going to tell me things," he said heavily.

"You can go to your Place of Punishment," Shifaz snarled. "I shall say
nothing."

"I can beat the answers out of you," Albert mused aloud, "but I won't.
I'll just ask you questions, and every time I don't like your answer,
I'll kick one of your teeth out. If you don't answer, I guarantee that
you'll look like an old grandmother."

* * * * *

Shifaz turned a paler green. To lose one's teeth was a punishment
reserved only for females. He would be a thing of mockery and
laughter--but there were worse things than losing teeth or face. There
was such a thing as losing one's life, and he knew what would happen if
he betrayed IC. Then he brightened. He could always lie, and this
hulking brute of an Earthman wouldn't know--couldn't possibly know. So
he nodded with a touch of artistic reluctance. "All right," he said,
"I'll talk." He injected a note of fear into his voice. It wasn't hard
to do.

"Where did you get that tobacco?" Albert asked.

"From a farm," Shifaz said. That was the truth. The Earthman probably
knew about tobacco and there was no need to lie, yet.

"Where is it?"

Shifaz thought quickly of the clearing in the forest south of Lagash
where the green broad-leaved plants were grown, and said, "It's just
outside of Timargh, along the road which runs south." He waited tensely
for Albert's reaction, wincing as the Earthman drew his foot back.
Timargh was a good fifty miles from Lagash, and if this lie went over,
he felt that he could proceed with confidence.

It went over. Albert replaced his foot on the ground. "You telling the
truth?"

"As Murgh is my witness," Shifaz said with sincerity.

Albert nodded and Shifaz relaxed with hidden relief. Apparently the man
knew that Murgh was the most sacred and respected deity in the pantheon
of Antar, and that oaths based upon his name were inviolable. But what
the scaleless oaf didn't know was that this applied to Antarians only.
As far as these strangers from another world were concerned, anything
went.

So Albert continued questioning, and Shifaz answered, sometimes readily,
sometimes reluctantly, telling the truth when it wasn't harmful, lying
when necessary. The native's brain was fertile and the