"Dead?"
Their soft voices brought other Earthlings crowding from the various parts of the spraying room. They, too, stared at the dead bulk of the pink-skinned Krak.
"How?" Mike breathed the word like a prayer.
Sean jerked a thumb at Marcia. "Marcia did it, and showed me how."
Marcia broke in: "But I don't know how I did it, Sean."
Sean shrugged as Mike moved closer to Marcia.
"Oh, Marcia," Mike said softly. "You found the way." His arms reached out as if to clasp her, but she ducked under them, put her arm around Sean's waist.
Sean's fingers pushed her arm loose, but Mike was a fury before him.
"So," Mike growled. "I must think of Jane. I must forget Marcia." He sniffed loudly. "Well, friend, how about Maureen? I suppose she'll greet Marcia with open arms?" He paused a moment.
"'I'll come back, Maureen,'" Mike mimicked Sean's last words to his black-haired Maureen when the Earthlings had first been driven aboard the Krak ship many weeks before.