"He's certainly not deceiving me as to his intentions," Oridin decided.
The recluse pushed a button on the wall, and a giant gate swung outward admitting the stranger.
The fellow was as tall and as muscular as Oridin himself, but the space suit and the gaping blaster he held in his hand made the visitor seem much more formidable. Oridin himself was dressed in bell-bottomed slacks and a loosely fitting, slipover coat. His beard softened his countenance and made him seem quite gentle, except for a certain glitter in his eyes that seemed to warn that Oridin loved a contest. And this would seem to be a deadly contest.
Oridin bowed.
"You are welcome, stranger," he said. "Take off your helmet, for the air is pure. Put aside your gun, for I am unarmed and I do not intend to harm you."
The stranger hesitated, uncertainly.
"No tricks, Oridin!" he warned.
"Tricks?" Oridin laughed tauntingly. "You are not very confident for a man of your caliber. I've heard of you often, Caddo Velexis. They say you have conquered whole nations single-handed, and yet you are afraid of an unarmed hermit."
"I'm not afraid of you," Caddo said in a tone that hinted he was.
Caddo removed his helmet and holstered his blaster, but Oridin noted that the terrestrial giant did not move the firing button to safety.