"Yeah, that's the idea," said Rev. "Now, you must've heard me talk about the King..."

"Many times, Crank," said Qual still smiling. "You hardly speak of anything else."

"That's right," said Rev. "Now, what I want to know is, what do you all think about that? I mean, you people don't seem really interested in Him."

"Oh, this King of yours is very interesting," said Qual, and the other two Zenobians nodded eagerly.

Rev smiled. "Well, I didn't expect you to say that..."

"But of course. you can not expect us to take him seriously," Qual added. "Humans "ought to create their own myths instead of borrowing from more ancient species."

Rev scratched his head, puzzled. "Borrowing? I don't understand."

The two Zenobian crew members opened their mouths in the posture Rev had come to recognize as laughter, but Qual kept a serious expression. "Possibly you tell the truth, friend Crank," the Zenobian officer said. "I have noticed that you do not much understand the humor. But I have perhaps already said more than I should. We Zenobians do not lightly speak of our deepest racial beliefs, and I do not wish to expose our doctrines to you. I will tell you only that you need to convince one of our High Shainans to tell you the tale of L'ViZ. It will be highly instructive, I can assure you. Now, if you will pardon me, I and my crew must complete our calibration of the sklem. Good diurnal period, Crank." Rev stood there with his mouth open as Qual and his crew resumed their work. But after a moment, he retreated, shaking his head. He hadn't learned everything he'd hoped he might, but what he had learned left him plenty of food for thought. L'Viz-he'd remember that name, and when occasion arose, he'd follow up Qual's suggestion; There was a mystery here, and he meant to get to the bottom of it.