And what if the oracle's secret really turned out to be gas? Might it prove his own salvation—or at least give him a quick and easy death?
For instance, suppose he were to flick the wheel of his pocket lighter—would the all-pervasive smell explode or burn?
"Oracle, I am your chosen one, King Minos! I command you—"
Quietly, Burke palmed the lighter.
"Speak, oracle; speak!"
A sudden recklessness surged through Burke. He opened his mouth to laugh.
And stopped stone cold.
Because suddenly, out of nowhere, another mind was probing in his brain!
Instinctively, he strove to force out the invader.
The very effort gave him new insight. For now, as he fought, he knew that the mind which he had joined in combat was not human, but alien. Its whole quality and mode of thought were of another order, another realm.