"Goodness!" Marta said again. She hid a nervous yawn behind her hand. "George, get me a chair, will you? I'd like to sit down." To Kauss, she said. "How did you find out all these things? You must have made quite a study of the subject. Why, I've read several books about Venus, and I listen to all the casts on the video about it, but I never heard either of these creatures mentioned before. It seems to be a sort of hobby of yours."

George pushed a kitchen chair out for her; she sat down with a sigh of relief.

"Not a hobby," Kauss corrected gently.

His face began to waver and flow as the Mocker's had done. Then it snapped back into place.

He licked his lips very delicately.

"You see, I'm a Stroller myself. And, somehow, I'm feeling that I'd like to eat."

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