"You have been expecting us?"
"Of course. Though why do you say 'us'?"
They moved partly from each other, overlapping only at the extreme limit of their own minds, so that he could see there were two of them together.
A gasp sounded in the Speaker's mind like an echo and there was a movement throughout the assembly.
"Can they hear us?" Pat asked.
"Naturally. Psi capacity is a minimum requirement for the Senate. Can't you hear us?"
"Only by mental contact."
"How odd," the Speaker replied. "Still, we ourselves cannot merge in each other, only into housings."
"Housings?"
"But surely.... You must know. Of course you must."