Slowly, the Aab crawled forward. One inch, two, three, six, a dozen. It was only five feet from him now, and in the shadow of the Devil's Egg again.

"That's it. Come on. Closer."

I am afraid of you. Let me go. Let me go get the others.

The Aab suddenly braked its advance by digging its fore-claws into the sand.

"But you don't want to go back to the others." Monk's lips quivered as he spoke. His words, to human ears, would have been unintelligible. "You want to stay here. You want to come closer to me."

His attempt at telepathic hypnotism brought a small, silent reply:

I must call the others. It is my duty to call the others. The others are hungry.

A shudder passed through Monk's hot, tight body. A few minutes ago he had delighted in the coolness of the desert. Now the heat seemed to be pressing down upon him like the fiery hand of Satan.

"You're a scout, aren't you?" he asked. "You find food for the others. You go back and tell the others what you've found?"

I tell the others. The others are hungry.

"But you're hungry, too. Why share what you've found? Why not take it all for yourself?"

No reply appeared in Monk's mind. He continued:

"Come closer. Look at me. You're hungry. You're too hungry to waste time calling the others."

The Aab came closer. It passed out of the shadow of the Devil's Egg. It came to within two feet of Monk. It crossed the small dune. Slowly, slowly, its legs labored through the thin sand. At last it stopped some six inches from Monk's face.

It appeared immense, like a lumbering, scaly giant from the planet's billion-year-ago past.

It rubbed its claws together, threateningly. Its black mouth opened, closed, opened, closed. Its needle tongue twisted like a silver snake.

I am hungry, came the thought. So very hungry. But I should call the others.

Combined fear and hope hung over Monk like an omnipresent shower of fire and ice. Sweat dripped into his hot eyes, obscuring his vision.

He opened his mouth.

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