“You’ll get no answers.” He sneered at them angrily. “Torture me—and then wonder whether my screamings tell the truth. Dope me and wonder whether what I truly believe is fact or fantasy.”
“Please,” said Chelan, “we only want to understand your kind. To know what makes you tick.”
“Then why didn’t you ask?”
“We’ve tried and we get no answers. Terran, the Universe is a vastness beyond comprehension. Co-operate and give us what we want to know and a piece of it is yours.”
“Nuts!”
“Terran, you have friends.”
“Who doesn’t?”
“Why can’t we be your friends?”
Angrily, resentfully, “Your way isn’t friendly enough to convince me.”
Chelan shook his head. “Take him away,” he directed in his own tongue.