"Tabak, we must get rid of these spinal parasites first. I—" He nearly said, "I think," but realized that he mustn't show any doubt. "I can do it. But I'll need your cooperation."
"Can you?" she cried in excitement and seized his hands, peering into his eyes. "Can you really? You are the Wanderer then!"
He looked quickly away. He didn't dare let her glimpse what was in his thoughts.
"Yes."
"Let me come into your mind; let me be sure," she pleaded.
"Tabak, you'll have to trust me."
"Why?" her blue eyes clouded in suspicion. She released his hands, backed away. "What is it you want to do to me? What are you hiding? What are you afraid I'll see?"
He swore under his breath. There wasn't time to argue, even if he could overcome the girl's suspicions, which he doubted was possible unless he opened his mind to her.
Without the slightest warning he jumped for Tabak, grabbed her and swung her off her feet.
The girl screamed, twisted, kicked and bit, wild with terror. The thick walls confined her cries. She was soft and tiny like a small white kitten in his hands. A spitting, scratching, squalling kitten.