Chain of Attack by Gene DeWeese Page B

with his tongue.
    Apparently feeling the smooth solidity that had replaced the transmitter and its comparatively uneven and fragile seal, the alien abandoned the probing and began looking at his watchers more directly, his eyes meeting and briefly holding first Rajanih's, then Kirk's, then those of each of the others who stood watching him. The alien's eyes held not so much a challenge as an acknowledgment of his situation, yet by no means a surrender. There was nothing submissive in those eyes.
    "Lower the light another twenty percent, Bones," Kirk said quietly, and McCoy complied.
    As the light lowered, the alien's lids raised until, when another five percent of the light was removed, his eyes were fully open.
    They were also fastened on Kirk, as if the alien had deduced that he was the one in charge simply from the fact that when he had spoken, someone else had immediately responded.
    "Now if we can just get him to talk, at least enough to give the computer a start on figuring out his language," McCoy said.
    "Based on his behavior so far," Kirk said, "that doesn't seem all that likely. And even if we do get his language sorted out, I suspect we will get little more than his equivalent of name, rank, and serial number, if that much."
    And they didn't. After nearly half an hour of trying, during which everyone, even Dr. Crandall, took turns trying to elicit some speech from the alien, he remained silent. He was obviously listening very closely, but, equally obviously, he had no intention of making a single sound.
    Nor did they do any better when, over the next two hours, they allowed the other two aliens, held in separate facilities, to awaken. Both went through variations on the same routine as they awakened, both attempting to activate the missing transmitter and both feigning unconsciousness as soon as they realized death was not forthcoming. One of them, according to the monitors, actually did lose consciousness for a brief period, growing even paler as he slumped against the padded straps, while the other, the tallest of the three by inches, broke into uncontrollable convulsions even more violent than those of the first one beamed aboard. Briefly, a series of sounds, more like keening wails than screams or shouts, poured from the taller one's barely opened mouth, but even the most complete computer analysis of the sounds couldn't extract any meaning or even any patterns, and once the outburst was over he remained utterly, rigidly silent.
    Finally, after a second twenty-minute session with the first of the three aliens, Kirk called a halt to the increasingly frustrating operation and turned to Dr. McCoy. "Now that they're stable—they are stable, aren't they, Bones?"
    "They seem to be, yes, but I can't guarantee they don't still have a few surprises for us."
    "Understood. That will have to be good enough." Kirk turned to Lieutenant Tomson of security. "Lieutenant, release the straps on this one. Let's see what he does."
    While Creighton and Reems held their phasers at the ready, Tomson released the straps, the alien's eyes following her every motion. For a few seconds after the straps retracted invisibly into the surface of the table, the alien remained motionless. Then, moving tentatively, he sat up straighter and turned and slid off the table, holding onto its edge as his booted feet settled on the floor. Releasing the table, he swayed unsteadily, as if he couldn't quite keep his balance. All the while, though, his eyes moved about the group, pausing on the pair of phasers in the guards' hands, obviously assessing them as weapons.
    "Escort him to one of our detention cells," Kirk said. "Then take the other two and put them in the same cell. Perhaps, with none of us around, they'll talk to each other."
    "Yes, sir," Tomson replied. "Creighton," she said, motioning the ensign forward. He reached out and took the alien's arm, firmly but not harshly.
    The alien didn't resist. His eyes went briefly to the hand on his arm,