I heaved a sigh of relief. "You gave me a scare, Foster. I thought for a second your memory was wandering again."
Foster was watching my face as I spoke. "What was it all about?" I said. "What have you found out?"
"I know you," said Foster slowly. "Your name is Legion."
I nodded. I could feel myself getting tense again. "Sure, you know me. Just take it easy pal. This is no time to lose your marbles." I put a hand on his shoulder. "You remember, we were—"
He shook my hand off. "That is not the custom in Vallon," he said coldly.
"Vallon?" I echoed. "What kind of routine is this, Foster? We were friends when we walked into this room an hour ago. We were hot on the trail of something, and I'm human enough to want to know how it turned out."
"Where are the others?"
"There's a couple of 'others' in the next room," I snapped. "But they've lost a lot of weight. I can find you several more, in the same condition. Outside of them there's only me——"
Foster looked at me as if I wasn't there. "I remember Vallon," he said. He put a hand to his head. "But I remember, too, a barbaric world, brutal and primitive. You were there. We traveled in a crude rail-car, and then in a barge that wallowed in the sea. There were narrow, ugly rooms, evil odors, harsh noises."
"That's not a very flattering portrait of God's country," I said, "but I'm afraid I recognize it."