CHAPTER IV     

       Douglas Alexander was a puffy-faced youngster with small intolerant eyes set in folds of fat above a button nose and a loose-lipped sensual mouth. There was an odd expression of defiance overlaid with fear on his pudgy features. Looking at him, Kennon was reminded of a frightened dog, ready either to bite or cower.     

       But it wasn’t Douglas who held his eye. It was the two Lani who followed him into the room. Every line of their bodies was perfection that spoke volumes about generations of breeding for physical elegance. They moved with a co-ordinated grace that made Douglas look even more clumsy by contrast. And they were identical, twin cream-and-gold works of art. They were completely nude—and Kennon for the first time in his life fully appreciated the beauty of an unclad female. To cover them would be sacrilege, and ornaments would only detract from their exquisite perfection.     

       Kennon knew that he was staring like an idiot. Alexander’s amused smile told him that much. With an effort he composed his startled features.     

       The pair looked at him with soft violet eyes—and it was as though some psychic bathhouse attendant had poured ice water down his spine. For he had seen that look before, that liquid introspective look in the velvet eyes of cattle. He shivered. For a moment he had been thinking of them as human. And somehow the lack of that indefinable some thing called humanity robbed them of much of their glamour. They were still beautiful, but their beauty had become impersonal.     

       “Don’t take these as representative of the Lani,” Alexander said suddenly.       “They’re a special case, a very special case.” He glared at his cousin.       “Damn your impudence,” he said without beat. “I sent for you—not your toys. Send them away.”      

       Douglas sulkily thrust out his lower lip. “You can’t talk to me like that, Cousin Alex,” he began. “I’m just a—”      

       “You heard me, Douglas. Out!” Alexander’s voice didn’t rise but it cut like a whip.     

       “Oh, very well,” Douglas said. “I can’t fight you—yet.” He turned to the humanoids. “You heard the Boss-man. Go home.”      

       The two nodded in unison and 

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