After all, he could tune in on the flefnobes’ minds and they couldn’t tune in on his. Maybe the only way he could make his mental presence felt to them was in some prodigious blast of thought which literally ripped them apart.

But he apparently couldn’t turn it on and off at will—he hadn’t caused the slightest alteration in Lirld, the first time the professor had fired.

There were ripples of new, excited thoughts reaching him suddenly. They were coming from somewhere in the street outside.

Rabd had arrived with his posse.

“Three of you move down that way,” the young flefnobe ordered. “I want two each to cover the side streets. Don’t spend too much time searching through the buildings. I’m positive we’ll find this monster skulking somewhere in the dark streets, looking for new victims. Tanj, Zogt and Lewv—come with me. And keep on your tentacle-tips, everybody—this thing is crazy dangerous. But remember, we’ve got to blast it before it starts reproducing. Imagine what this planet would be like with a couple of hundred of these flat-eyed monsters running around!”

Manship let out a long, slow sigh of relief. If they hoped to find him on the streets, he might have a little time.

He let his mind follow that of Rabd. It wasn’t too hard—just a matter of concentration—and you pretty much blocked out the thoughts of the other individuals. Follow Rabd’s mind, Rabd’s thoughts. Now block out most of Rabd’s conscious thoughts. There. The subliminal layer, the memory patterns. No, not the stuff about that female flefnobe last month, all eyes and soft tentacles, dammit!

The memory patterns, the older ones. “When landing on a C-12 type planet…” No, not that one. A little further. There!… “Having fired the forward jet to clear it, gently depress the…”