ane rather than oxygen as the metabolic catalyst. And they were bisexual... which was a rather non-B system indeed.

"Poke it," Bill Calumine said to Jack Blau.

With the vug-stick, Jack prodded the jelly-like cytoplasm of the vug. "Go home," he told it sharply. He grinned at Bill Calumine. "Maybe we can have some fun with it. Let's try to draw it into conversation. Hey, vuggy. You like make talk-talk?"

At once, eagerly, the Titanian's thoughts came to them, addressed to all the humans in the condominium apartment. "Any pregnancies reported? If so, our medical facilities are available and we urge you to—"

"Listen, vuggy," Bill Calumine said, "if we have any luck we'll keep it to ourselves. It's bad luck to tell you; everybody knows that. How come you don't know that?"

"It knows it," Silvanus Angst said. "It just doesn't like to think about it."

"Well, it's time the vugs faced reality," Jack Blau said. "We don't like them and that's it. Come on," he said to his wife. "Let's go home." Impatiently, he waved Jean toward him.

The various members of the group filed out of the room and down the front steps of the building to their parked cars. Freya found herself left with the vug.

"There have been no pregnancies in our group," she told the vug, answering its question.

"Tragic," the vug thought back in response.

"But there will be," Freya said. "I know we'll have luck, soon."

"Why is your particular group so hostile to us?" the vug asked.

Freya said, "Why, we hold you responsible for our sterility; you know that." Especially our spinner Bill Calumine does, she thought.

"But it was your military weapon," the vug protested.