"It's something I can't describe. It's like poking a finger into our brains. It doesn't hurt, but it feels uncomfortable. It's like being watched by someone you can't see."
Cappy's boldness seemed to tarnish a little. A suggestion of a shudder seemed to pass over the man. He straightened and shook it off.
"Pooh! Imagination, Terry!"
Cappy took a step toward the creature. The eyes seemed to flash. Perhaps it was a reflection from the corona streamers stretching above the horizon to the west. Cappy halted as the creature seemed to shrink away.
"Hold on!" Cappy called. "Don't go away! We've got to see that creature, Terry. Get it back! Can you stop it!"
There was no mistaking that the animal was intelligent. Perhaps it felt the same emotions that raced through Terry's body.
"Let me try," Terry said. His heart was pounding, but science had to know if intelligent life existed in Mercury's twilight zone.
Terry stripped the gun from his shoulders and laid it on the ground. He pushed passed Cappy and walked toward the creature. Terry's hands were extended, palms outward.
The creature hesitated. Its eyes flashed again and once more Terry felt something cold in his skull.
The ferns parted and the creature stepped out into view.