"Yes, plants. Flora, not fauna. Their young are green in color. As they mature, ripen, I suppose is the correct word, they turn yellow. When they cut themselves, they bleed green. Sap, don't you know."
"This Behrl, where is it?" asked Norman.
"In Neptune. The planet is hollow. Just a shell. The city of Behrl is on the inside of Neptune." The ex-anthropologist sat back. "Whatever you do, don't try to escape. Even if you get away, when the Dohlmites missed you they would simply extinguish you wherever you were."
Norman's breath went out of him like air from a burst sack. The full implication of what the ex-anthropologist had revealed broke in his mind like an exploding shell. Gone were his hopes of escaping, and taking Jennifer with him. He was trapped. The net of the Dohlmites was perfect and he and the girl were caught in its meshes. Certainly, he thought bitterly, no human intelligence could have conceived such a devilish plan.
From the desk of the ex-anthropologist Norman was led into a small closet where the rays of the fatal machine bathed him from head to foot. Beyond the partition something click-clicked at irregular intervals like a beetle and an ominous scratching recorded his vibratory rate indelibly on the duraloid cylinder.
The machine stopped. The door of the closet opened.
Norman discovered a thick shouldered Martian grinning at him from the entrance.
"That's enough," said the Martian in the sibilant accent of the red planet. "You've been detailed to my squad."
As Norman slipped from the closet another recruit took his place. He noticed a low humming.