interruption. Its contentwas not comprehensible to Telzey at all, but in some unmistakablemanner it was defined as Tick-Tock's thought.
A pause as the circle of speakers stopped to consider whatever TT hadthrown into the debate.
Then another impression ... one that sent a shock of fear throughTelzey as it rose heavily into her awareness. Its sheer intensitymomentarily displaced the tape-reading symbolism. A savage voiceseemed to rumble:
"Toss the tender small-bite to me"--malevolent crimson eyes fixed onTelzey from somewhere not far away--"and let's be done here!"
Startled, stammering protest from Tick-Tock, accompanied by gusts oflaughter from the circle. Great sense of humor these characters had,Telzey thought bitterly. That crimson-eyed thing wasn't joking at all!
More laughter as the circle caught her thought. Then a kind ofmajority opinion found sudden expression:
"Small-bite _is_ learning! No harm to wait--We'll find outquickly--Let's...."
The tape ended; the voices faded; the colors went blank. In whateverjumbled-up form she'd been getting the impressions at thatpoint--Telzey couldn't have begun to describe it--the whole thingsuddenly stopped.
* * * * *
She found herself sitting in the grass, shaky, scared, eyes open.Tick-Tock stood beside the terrace, looking at her. An air of hazyunreality still hung about the garden.
She might have flipped! She didn't think so; but it certainly seemedpossible! Otherwise ... Telzey made an attempt to sort over what hadhappened.
Something _had_ been in the garden! Something had been inside hermind. Something that was at home on Jontarou.
There'd been a feeling of perhaps fifty or sixty of these ... well,beings. Alarming beings! Reckless, wild, hard ... and that red-eyednightmare! Telzey shuddered.
They'd contacted Tick-Tock first, during the night. TT understood thembetter than she could. Why? Telzey found no immediate answer.
Then Tick-Tock had tricked her into letting her mind be invaded bythese beings. There must have been a very definite reason for that.
She looked over at Tick-Tock. TT looked back. Nothing stirred inTelzey's thoughts. Between _them_ there was still no directcommunication.
Then how had the beings been able to get through to her?
Telzey wrinkled her nose. Assuming this was real, it seemed clear thatthe game of symbols she'd made up between herself and TT had providedthe opening. Her whole experience just now had been in the form ofsymbols, translating whatever occurred into something she couldconsciously grasp.
"Kitten-talk" was how the beings referred to the use of symbols; theyseemed contemptuous of it. Never mind, Telzey told herself; they'dagreed she was learning.
The air over the grass appeared to flicker. Again she had theimpression of reading words off a quickly moving, not quite visibletape.
"You're being taught and you're learning," was what she seemed toread. "The question was whether you were capable of partialunderstanding as your friend insisted. Since you were, everything elsethat can be done will be accomplished very quickly."
A pause, then with a touch of approval, "You're a well-formed mind,small-bite! Odd and with incomprehensibilities, but well-formed--"
One of the beings, and a fairly friendly one--at least not unfriendly.Telzey framed a tentative mental question. "Who are you?"
"You'll know very soon." The flickering ended; she realized she andthe question had been dismissed for the moment. She looked over atTick-Tock again.
"Can't _you_ talk to me now, TT?" she asked silently.
A feeling of hesitation.
"Kitten-talk!" was the impression that formed itself with difficultythen. It was awkward, searching; but it came unquestionably from TT."Still learning too, Telzey!" TT seemed half anxious, half angry."We--"
* * * * *
A sharp buzz-note reached Telzey's ears, wiping out the gropingthought-impression. She jumped a little, glanced down. Herwrist-talker was signaling. For a moment, she seemed poiseduncertainly between a world where unseen, dangerous-sounding beingsreferred to one as small-bite and where TT was learning to talk, andthe familiar other world where wrist-communicators buzzed periodicallyin a matter-of-fact manner. Settling back into the more familiarworld, she switched on the talker.
"Yes?" she said. Her voice sounded husky.
"Telzey, dear," Halet murmured honey-sweet from the talker, "would youcome back into the house, please? The living room--We have a visitorwho very much wants to meet you."
Telzey hesitated, eyes narrowing. Halet's visitor wanted to meet_her_?
"Why?" she asked.
"He has something _very_ interesting to tell you, dear." The edge oftriumphant malice showed for an instant, vanished in murmuringsweetness again. "So please hurry!"
"All right." Telzey stood up. "I'm coming."
"Fine, dear!" The talker went dead.
Telzey switched off the instrument, noticed that Tick-Tock had chosento disappear meanwhile.
Flipped? She wondered, starting up towards the house. It was clearAunt Halet had prepared some unpleasant surprise to spring on her,which was hardly more than normal behavior for Halet. The otherbusiness? She couldn't be certain of anything there. Leaving out TT'sstrange actions--which might have a number of causes, after all--thatentire string of events could have been created inside her head. Therewas no contradictory evidence so far.
But it could do no harm to take what _seemed_ to have happened at facevalue. Some pretty grim event might be shaping up, in a very real way,around here....
"You reason logically!" The impression now was of a voice speaking toher, a voice that made no audible sound. It was the same being who'daddressed her a minute or two ago.
The two worlds between which Telzey had felt suspended seemed to glideslowly together and become one.
"I go to Law school," she explained to the being, almost absently.
Amused agreement. "So we heard."
"What do you want of me?" Telzey inquired.
"You'll know soon enough."
"Why not tell me now?" Telzey urged. It seemed about to dismiss heragain.
Quick impatience flared at her. "Kitten-pictures! Kitten-thoughts!Kitten-talk! Too slow, too slow! YOUR pictures--too much YOU! Waittill the...."
Circuits close ... channels open.... Obstructions clear? What _had_ itsaid? There'd been only the blurred image of a finicky, delicate, butperfectly normal technical operation of some kind.
"... Minutes now!" the voice concluded. A pause, then another thoughttossed carelessly at her. "This is more important to you, small-bite,than to _us_!" The voice impression ended as sharply as if acommunicator had snapped off.
Not _too_ friendly! Telzey walked on towards the house, a new feargrowing inside her ... a fear like the awareness of a storm gatherednearby, still quiet--deadly quiet, but ready to break.
"Kitten-pictures!" a voice seemed to jeer distantly, a whispering inthe park trees beyond the garden wall.
* * * * *
Halet's cheeks were lightly pinked; her blue eyes sparkled. She lookeddownright stunning, which meant to anyone who knew her that the worstside of Halet's nature was champing at the bit again. On uninformedmales it had a dazzling effect, however; and Telzey wasn't surprisedto find their visitor wearing a tranced expression when she came intothe living room. He was a tall, outdoorsy man with a tanned, bonyface, a neatly trained black mustache, and a scar down one cheek whichwould have seemed dashing if it hadn't been for the stupefied look.Beside his chair stood a large, clumsy instrument which might havebeen some kind of telecamera.
Halet performed introductions. Their visitor was Dr. Droon, azoologist. He had been tuned in on Telzey's newscast interview on theliner the night before, and wondered whether Telzey would care todiscuss Tick-Tock with him.
"Frankly, no," Telzey said.
Dr. Droon came awake and gave Telzey a surprised look. Halet smiledeasily.
; "My niece doesn't intend to be discourteous, doctor," she explained.
"Of course not," the zoologist agreed doubtfully.
"It's just," Halet went on, "that Telzey is a little, oh, sensitivewhere Tick-Tock is concerned. In her own way, she's attached to theanimal. Aren't you, dear?"
"Yes," Telzey said blandly.
"Well, we hope this isn't going to disturbed you too much, dear."Halet glanced significantly at Dr. Droon. "Dr. Droon, you mustunderstand, is simply doing ... well, there is something veryimportant he must tell you now."
Telzey transferred her gaze back to the zoologist. Dr. Droon clearedhis throat. "I, ah, understand, Miss Amberdon, that you're unaware