"'If you don't mind my saying so, sir, I nark the impression that you want something more. Something about getting a whale to the planet Penguin II?'
"I nodded. 'If these kid brothers of yours can run around mald-bottom in space without catching cold, then I guess you can probably send a whale from one planet to another by mind power—by psionics.'
"'But that's not really what you want?' the boy persisted.
"I nodded. 'Even psionics can't do what I really want. A Delta class freighter can do almost anything, but it can't transport an adult blue whale across space. Still, that's what I really want it to do, and it's that desire that you are apparently picking out of my mind.'
"Jim frowned for a couple of minutes in deep concentration while Mike and Aloysius nudged each other slyly, gradually got more rambunctious, and finally lost their tempers and started a half-wrestling, half-boxing tussle.
"Jim clapped his hands together sharply, twice. The kids quieted down abruptly, looking at Jim indignantly and rubbing their posteriors. At the same time, Jim picked a small box out of the air and handed it to me with a flamboyant gesture.
"Lettered on the box was the neatly printed instruction 'EAT ME'.
"'Shades of Lewis Carroll,' I said to myself, opening the box and looking at the little cakes inside.
"'Go ahead, sir,' chorused Mike and Aloysius, 'Don't be chicken!'