rustling deep inside the hull, a vague stir of activity that's not entirely physical."

While Langford held his breath Joan pressed her palms to her temples. "The rustling is becoming clear. There are swift, abrupt movements, accompanied by thoughts. But I'm not sure whether the thoughts come from one mind or many minds. The thoughts are swift, piercing. Darting thoughts. That's the only way I can describe them."

Her voice rose slightly. "I can sense a living presence deep inside the ship. More than one, I think. There's a kind of swarming."

"A swarming?"

"I'm not sure about that," Joan said, quickly. "I don't think they're moving about much. The thoughts seem to come from one direction. I can just make out a shape now; it's tall, and very slender."

"Winged?" Langford whispered.

"No, no, don't prompt me!" Joan was excited. "The important thing is that I can see it. I may never see it clearly. Gauzy—yes, it is winged. It has gauzy, shining wings, folded on its chest. Two clawlike appendages, raised in a praying attitude. Perhaps I saw that in your mind; you mustn't interrupt again."

"I won't!" Langford promised.

"The creature is horribly agitated!" Joan said. "It looks upon your ship as a menace. Its brain is humming with fear; it is preparing to contact you, warn you. It's getting ready to warn you in a strange way. It has prepared something for just such an emergency. Something small, glistening. I can't make it out, but it's putting the object into a luminous shell!"

"That's right!" Langford said, forgetting his promise. "They shot the shell into the void; we picked it up with a magnetic trawl."

There was a brief silence as Joan thought that out. Then her lips twisted in a strained smile. "If you say another word—"

"Sorry!"

"It's bad; it hinders." She raised her arms in a gesture of grim urgency. "Now the ship is moving swiftly away from your ship. I can dimly sense vast distances rushing past. And there's a feeling of loneliness, of utter desolation. No despair, exactly; it's as though I were sensing the utter desolation of deep space through a mind filled with a bitter nostalgia!

"If the feeling wasn't so intense, so strange and bewildering, I'd say it was a 'Carry me 

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