the Alexandrians invented, and how they were used to produce miracles for the devout? Or there may have been a gradual decadence with religion moving slowly in on science. That might explain the general quietism in the atmosphere, though I admit the Vardians don't seem decadent."

"Um."

"You don't believe me?" Frost said.

"Not a bit of it. Nope."

"Will you help me?"

"... Yes."

Thor-na'thor was a good dinner guest. He held his liquor well, he laughed in the places where laughter was appropriate, he even essayed a mild jest or two of his own. He was genuinely friendly and amiable.

Nevertheless, Frost and Scott were not pleased. They were too tense and excited to enjoy their guest's social qualities, and his ability to soak up liquor without being affected by it was nothing less than catastrophic. They were both a good deal drunker than Thor-na'thor was, and it was not their tongues the evening had been designed to loosen.

Scott twitched an eyelid in signal to Frost. "Got a Venusian liquor," the latter said feebly to Thor-na'thor. "Like your opinion on it." He got a bottle from the buffet.

"Certainly," Thor-na'thor replied, smiling and holding out his glass. "Delighted, my boy. What generous hosts you terrestrials are!"

"Thanks." With inebriated precision, Frost poured a huge snort of phyteumah into the Vardian's glass, and portions as much smaller as was consistent with decency into Scott's and his own.

"I especially appreciate your invitation," Thor-na'thor went on, sipping at his drink, "since I have been distressed—absurdly, I suppose, but there it is—over the death a few days ago of a pet of mine. This evening has been a welcome distraction for me." He sipped again.

Frost and Scott exchanged quick glances. Was this going to be easier than they had thought?

"That's too bad," Scott said. "What was it, a dog?"

"An animal very similar to a dog. I had reared Lilil from shortly after her birth. One grows attached to them."

Still sipping, Thor-na'thor launched on an 

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