drawing that particular glutton,
so strongly had the telepathic image of fish impressed itself upon his
mind. Yet the glutton was a glutton for danger as well as for fish. He
had killed sixty-three Dragons, more than any other Partner in the
service, and was quite literally worth his weight in gold.

The little girl West came next. She drew Captain Wow. When she saw who
it was, she smiled.

"I _like_ him," she said. "He's such fun to fight with. He feels so
nice and cuddly in my mind."

"Cuddly, hell," said Woodley. "I've been in his mind, too. It's the
most leering mind in this ship, bar none."

"Nasty man," said the little girl. She said it declaratively, without
reproach.

Underhill, looking at her, shivered.

He didn't see how she could take Captain Wow so calmly. Captain Wow's
mind _did_ leer. When Captain Wow got excited in the middle of a
battle, confused images of Dragons, deadly Rats, luscious beds, the
smell of fish, and the shock of space all scrambled together in his
mind as he and Captain Wow, their consciousnesses linked together
through the pin-set, became a fantastic composite of human being and
Persian cat.

That's the trouble with working with cats, thought Underhill. It's a
pity that nothing else anywhere will serve as Partner. Cats were all
right once you got in touch with them telepathically. They were smart
enough to meet the needs of the fight, but their motives and desires
were certainly different from those of humans.

They were companionable enough as long as you thought tangible images
at them, but their minds just closed up and went to sleep when you
recited Shakespeare or Colegrove, or if you tried to tell them what
space was.

It was sort of funny realizing that the Partners who were so grim and
mature out here in space were the same cute little animals that people
had used as pets for thousands of years back on Earth. He had
embarrassed himself more than once while on the ground saluting
perfectly ordinary non-telepathic cats because he had forgotten for
the moment that they were not Partners.

He picked up the cup and shook out his stone dice.

He was lucky--he drew the Lady May.

* * * * *

The Lady May was the most thoughtful Partner he had ever met. In her,
the finely bred pedigree mind of a Persian cat had reached one of its
highest peaks of development. She was more complex than any human
woman, but the complexity was all one of emotio