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Command."
Alex blinked, still feeling his ear while trying to balance the awkward bundle of clothing with his other
hand. The alien's words had come through to him clearly, in unaccented English.
"You speak English? That doesn't make any sense."
"I agree, but I am not speaking your language," the Rylan informed him. "Your mind interprets my words
via the translator button."
The tiny disc clung securely to the inside of his ear. He let his hand fall. "That doesn't make any sense
either. What would you be doing with a translation of my language? Do you have others of my kind
here?"
"No," said the Rylan. "The button does not actually translate word for word. It adapts to your own
thoughts, transcribing the sense of what I say rather than executing a literal transcription. We have
discovered that within a certain range, the internal physical makeup of most intelligent species is
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sufficiently similar to make such devices practical. Structures may differ, but the transmission of ideas still
involves the movement of electrical impulses within brains of varying size. The translator reads the current
in your brain and works directly from it, as opposed to intercepting the verbalizations which are the
translations of those same impulses into sound by your vocal mechanism."
"Goes right to the source," Alex murmured.
"In essence. That is a simplified explanation. Cerebral engineering is not my field. My concerns are with
destruction, not interpretation. As are yours."
"They are? I mean, are they?"
"All will be explained." The Rylan spared a quick glance for some instrument he wore inside a shirt
pocket. "But not by me. You have to hurry. We don't have much time. There have been reports pouring
in that are most disturbing in nature and frequency. Decisions of great import are about to be made.
"Besides, the briefing begins shortly."
"Briefing? What briefing?"
"The briefing wherein many of your questions will be answered." Schemal, the Rylan thought, what has
Cen-tauri brought us this time? Don't these creatures ever stop asking questions? Such unrestrained
curiosity was sometimes an indication of great flexibility. The Rylan hoped fervently this was so. This late
adolescent specimen was going to need all the flexibility it could muster in the coming action.
"Now come along and join the other recruits." He started across the smooth floor toward the large
glass-enclosed room at the far end. Alex trotted along in his wake, not knowing what else to do, hugging
his burden of clothing tightly to his chest.
"Recruits? What was that about 'other' recruits?" He tapped his ear lightly. "You sure this thing is working
right? I could've sworn you said 'other recruits.' Or is this gadget reading my pulses wrong? Hey, I've got
it! You folks are AC and I'm DC, right? I'm mixing up your meaning, right?"
The Rylan stopped, indicating a doorway leaning inward.
"In there?" Alex asked. The Rylan made a gesture Alex couldn't make up or down of. The button didn't
translate gestures. The movement was repeated.
"Of course in there. Where else did you expect to end up?" Then the Rylan turned and strode off down a
hallway.
"Hey, wait a minute." Alex hesitated, then shrugged. Machinery thrummed around him. "What the hell."
He headed for the door, which opened noiselessly for him.
A dozen nightmares turned in the briefing room to give him a quick glance. Their inspection was cursory
and they soon turned back to their interrupted chatter, for which he was grateful.
Many of them wore uniforms identical in color and design, if not in shape, to the one he held in his arms.
Others were clad in different attire. Two different ranks, he thought, or different classes. Most of the
talkers were humanoid, though a couple were alien to the point of unrecognizability. One wore a complex
mask across the lower half of his/her/its face. This was connected by a flexible tube to a square tank
strapped across a broad back. Another creature didn't appear to be breathing at all.
The chairs were not lined up neatly and everyone sat according to individual whim. Two of the talkers
disdained the use of the furniture altogether and squatted side by side on the floor. No one objected to
this choice of unconventional seating, which was after all a matter of personal comfort and not
discourtesy. There were more Rylans present than any other species.
A voice blared over a hidden speaker. "Attention, attention! Ambassador Enduran of the League is here!
He will deliver the final address. Please to devote your full attention to the words of the honored
ambassador."
Muttering in a dozen languages filled the room. Overwhelmed, the button in Alex's ear could only
produce a kind of verbal static. He started forward, letting the door close itself behind him.
The being who entered from the far side of the room and walked slowly toward the small rostrum
conveyed a feeling of great age despite his erect bearing and fluid stride. He was humanoid, quite human
in fact, as much if not more so than the Rylans. From the instant silence that greeted his appearance Alex
presumed him to be the just announced visiting ambassador.
He paused in front of the eclectic collection of creatures, all united in common cause, and scanned them
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