Duomart was staring wide-eyed past him towards the instrument console,
the back of one hand to her mouth. "That ... the thing!"
"Thing?"
"Big ... yellow ... wet ... _ugh_! It's ducked behind the console,
Dasinger! It's lurking there!"
"Oh!" Dasinger said, relaxing. He smiled. "That's all right. Don't worry
about it."
"_Don't worry about_ ... are you crazy?"
"Not in the least. I thought you were for a second, but it's very
simple. You've worked off the kwil and now you're in the hangover
period. You get hallucinations then, just as I usually do. For the next
eight or nine hours, you'll be seeing odd things around from time to
time. So what? They're not real."
* * * * *
"All right, they're not real, but they seem real enough while they're
around," Duomart said. "I don't want to see them." She caught her breath
and her hand flew up to her mouth again. "Dasinger, please, don't you
have something that will put me back to sleep till I'm past the hangover
too?"
Dasinger reflected. "One of Doc Egavine's hypno sprays will do it. I
know enough of the mumbo jumbo to send you to dreamland for another ten
hours." He smiled evilly. "Of course, you realize that means you're
putting yourself completely in my power."
Duomart's eyes narrowed for an instant. She considered him, grinned.
"I'll risk it," she said.