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duties.”
    “Nonsense. Just relax, Flick. I’ll attend to everything, and it won’t take very long.”
    “No,” the other answered. “You’re too impetuous. I’m in charge, remember that.”
    Steve turned from one to the other. Far from being sinister, these two men were arguing like a couple of children. He looked at them again in the bright light of their lantern. The one called Flick wore a brown tweed suit, a white shirt and a black-and-gold tie. His hair was gray and cropped short; it had a bright reddish tint, and yet the small mustache beneath his large beaked nose was more black than gray or red. Steve found it impossible to be alarmed by him.
    The other man wore a sky-blue suit, a white shirt and a black string bow tie. His hair was very long and wavy, more blue than black. There was nothing frightening about him, either.
    “Careful,” Steve warned himself. “That may be what they want you to think. Don’t let them come closer.”
    Jay’s gaze was still on him. Steve glanced at the man called Flick and found the same shimmering clearness of eye, devoid of all color yet containing all the colors in the world. He felt a sudden throbbing in his head.
    “Aren’t you surprised to see us, Steve?” Jay asked again. “You’re more startled than frightened, isn’t that so?”
    Steve nodded as he felt a numbness claim his body. He fought it, telling himself that he should run, but he couldn’t leave. He could only stare into those eyes, thinking how much they resembled glass marbles. And yet they looked back at him as marbles never could, with more expression than he had ever seen in anyone’s eyes.
    The men waited patiently, kindly, while he tried again to speak. They came no closer … but even if they had, he could not have left.
    They were helping him, and finally his words came in a whisper. “How did you get here?”
    Both smiled, and it was Jay who answered. “Why, in our ship, of course. You’ve seen it, Steve. You’ve been watching us right along.”
    “We’re just over there,” Flick added, nodding his cropped gray head to one side.
    Steve turned his head toward the wall of the chamber, and Flick chuckled and said, “Of course I mean
outside
, Steve.”
    “There you go taking too much for granted again,” Jay said disapprovingly.
    Flick’s small mustache trembled in his irritation. “I wish you’d stop saying that, Jay. It’s all I’ve heard from you during this trip. You know as well as I do that there’s only so much we can tell Steve.”
    “Oh, nonsense,” Jay retorted. “You’re always worrying about nothing. No wonder you’re gray long before your time. And wearing that ridiculous crew-cut doesn’t fool anyone, either.” He turned quickly to Steve, not wanting to give Flick an opportunity to speak just then. “Steve,” he explained, “we’re on the water out there. We arrived late yesterday afternoon, and of course we knew that you were watching us. We realize how concerned you’ve been. Please don’t be any longer.”
    Flick said, “Actually, we’ve been just as concerned about
you
.”
    Jay nodded his blue-black head in agreement. “That’s one of the reasons for this visit. I don’t believe we’ve ever been seen before. It’s quite …”
    “Now, now, Jay,” Flick interrupted nervously. “You know what Julian said.”
    “Worrying, always worrying, you and Julian. Just leave it to me to know how much to explain.”
    “I’ve tried that before and it hasn’t worked out very well,” Flick answered gravely. He turned to Steve and smiled. “You mustn’t mind our bickering. This has been going on a long time.”
    “Too long,” Jay said. “The next trip will be different. I’ll team up with Victor.”
    “They won’t have it,” Flick answered. “You and Victor are too much alike.” He shrugged his thinshoulders, adding, “But it would be perfectly all right with me. In fact it would be a pleasure not to have to worry about you at