“Would it make any difference if they hadn’t?” Rynason asked.
“Hell, no! I’m just curious.” Malhomme stood up, hefting his repentance sign in the crook of one big arm. His face again took on its arched look as he said, “My duty calls me elsewhere. But I leave you with a message from the scriptures, and it has been my guiding light. ‘Resist not evil,’ my children. Resist not evil.”
“Who said that?” Rynason asked.
Malhomme shook his head. “Damned if I know,” he muttered, and went away.
After a moment Rynason turned back to the girl; she was still watching Malhomme thread his way through the men on his way to the door.
“So now you’ve met my spiritual father,” he said.
Her deep brown eyes flickered back to his. “I wish I could use a telepather on him. I’d like to know how he really thinks.”
“He thinks exactly as he speaks,” Rynason said. “At least, at the moment he says something, he believes in it.”
She smiled. “I suppose that’s the only possible explanation for him.” She was silent for a moment, her face thoughtful. Then she said, “He didn’t finish his drink.”
“You’re all hooked up,” the girl said. “Nod or something when you’re ready.” She was bent over the telepather, double checking the connectives and the blinking meters. Rynason and Horng sat opposite each other, the huge dark mound of the alien looming silently over the Earthman.