"Who are you?" he gasped.
The answering sigh of laughter gave him a distinct chill despite its suggestion of amiability.
"Name's Johnny Ashlew. Kinda thought you'd start with what I am. Didn't figure you'd ever seen a man grown into a tree before."
Kolin looked about, seeing little but leaves and fog.
"I have to climb down," he told himself in a reasonable tone. "It's bad enough that the other two passed out without me going space happy too."
"What's your hurry?" demanded the voice. "I can talk to you just as easy all the way down, you know. Airholes in my bark—I'm not like an Earth tree."
Kolin examined the bark of the crotch in which he sat. It did seem to have assorted holes and hollows in its rough surface.
"I never saw an Earth tree," he admitted. "We came from Haurtoz."
"Where's that? Oh, never mind—some little planet. I don't bother with them all, since I came here and found out I could be anything I wanted."
"What do you mean, anything you wanted?" asked Kolin, testing the firmness of a vertical vine.