"Aren't you going to thank it?"
"No, damn it! Me thank a big purple ball? You can thank it for both of us. Might try kicking it a few times and see whether you get any reaction."
Archie leaped down on the sand and hurried to the side of the purple sphere. The purple sphere looked at him sadly. Archie petted it between and beneath its eyes. Suddenly he stood up.
"Hey Ed! It's been crying!"
Ed snorted angrily but said nothing. "No, really, Ed! It's all wet under its eyes, here!" He petted it the more tenderly. The purple sphere looked at him sadly.
"Come on," yelled Ed. "I'm sick of this mush."
"Just a second," replied Archie. "Well—good-bye," he said to the purple sphere. "I don't know whether you get me. Do you know what I'm saying? No. Thanks anyway." He petted the purple sphere between its great eyes; the eyes watched him sadly. He cursed softly, then turned on his heel and hurried toward the rocket ship. Suddenly he pivoted again and said to the purple sphere:
"You maybe saved our lives, Mel. Anything we can do for you? Any place we can take you? Say the word and we'll do it."
The purple sphere looked at Archie sadly. Then it sidled rapidly forward, knocked Archie unceremoniously off his feet, and climbed on top of him. Archie shrieked: "Hey! Ouch! Get off! Stop him, Ed! Stop him! He's hurting me something aw—" His voice became muffled and stopped. Ed stood petrified while Archie slowly disappeared into the purple sphere. All the while, the purple sphere looked up at Ed out of sad eyes.
Then Archie was gone. Ed swore a terrible oath and possessed himself of another ugly looking steel tube. He leveled it to his shoulder and pushed a button. A terrible gaping crack appeared in one of the purple sphere's eyes and a green ichor trickled thickly out. The purple sphere rolled over and sidled away at an incredible speed. Ed fired again. He missed.