All she did was kiss me."

The Vegan shook his head. "Your lip is bleeding isn't it?" Manning nodded and the Patrolman went on: "It was an attack, sir. I know this one. She's Velmar Shonda from Aldebaran Four. We've been looking for her for two months."

Manning was dazed. "Did you say Aldebaran Four? She said she was from the third planet."

"She's from the fourth one, sir. Oh, they look a lot like the Aldebaranese on Three—except for the golden eyes. You can always tell them by that."

"But—but," stammered Manning, remembering, "the encyclotape said that the inhabitants on the fourth planet are very different...."

"They are—in their habits," the Patrolman said grimly. "This baby eats nothing but blood and she could drain you in about an hour."[14]

[14] As Manning would have learned if he hadn't been so impatient to turn off the encyclotape, the inhabitants of Aldebaran Four, while also belonging to the order of Chiroptera, are evolved from the genus Desmodus rotundus, vulgarly known on Terra as the Vampire Bat. They are exclusively blood eaters, preferring the blood of primates and in modern times having a special preference for the blood of humans. For this reason, their planet had been in strict quarantine, but Velmar Shonda had somehow escaped and hid out on Regulus. Having maintained the feeding habits of their primitive ancestors while they had physically evolved along humanoid lines, it was little wonder that the females like Velmar were known as Vampires in every sense of the word.

"If that's true," Xelia Zon said excitedly, "then that must account for the Regulusians who have been vanishing."

"If any of you have been vanishing," the Patrolman said, "then this baby is probably the reason for it. She's got a big appetite. Boy, am I glad I found her. Well—"

Another Regulusian came rushing up. "The Acruxian," he exclaimed. "He's escaped!"

"He can't get far," Xelia said grimly. "He didn't have a ship here. Unless he steals your ship, Manning."

"If he tried that he'd be in for a surprise," Manning said.

"An Acruxian?" the patrolman asked. "I saw one on the surface as I came in. There was another ship coming in from one of the satellites of Regulus. Come to think of it, it 

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