"Kill him, kill him, kill him!" croaked the old man, and picked up another rock.
"I offer you ten days, twenty days, thirty more days of life!"
The people stopped. Their mouths hung open. Their eyes were incredulous.
"Thirty days?" It was repeated again and again. "How?"
"Come back to the ship with me. Inside it, one can live forever!"
The old man lifted high a rock, then, choking, fell forward in an apoplectic fit, and tumbled down the rocks to lie at Sim's feet.
Sim bent to peer at the ancient one, at the bleary, dead eyes, the loose, sneering lips, the crumpled, quiet body.
"Chion!"
"Yes," said Dark behind him, in a croaking, strange voice. "Your enemy. Chion."