A bolt of fear shot through Threlkeld's earth stomach. "Of course I
know. The point is, do you know?"
"English," the frustrated guide said. "Very well, I will secure Mr.
Twitty of the British delegation. Come this way, sir, madam."
Threlkeld forced a deep intake of oxygen. He smiled at Gelerie and
they followed the girl to an elevator. When they alighted, they were
escorted down a hall to the doorway marked, _Delegation of the United
Kingdom_.
Then the guide turned to Threlkeld and said, "I have instructions to
learn the nature of your mission before introducing you, sir."
Threlkeld had hoped it would not come to this. But better to tell the
girl than foil the chance now. "I want the young man to fall in love
with my daughter. Then I am going to kidnap him and whisk him off to a
faraway planet." There, he had said it. Homekind had told him to say
it if necessary. The truth would be the one thing the Earthlings would
never believe, they had told him.
The Oriental girl laughed and said, "Sir, I admit defeat. Mr. Twitty
will have to take it from here." She stuck her head inside the door
and whistled softly.
"Pip, pip, Yu-lin," came the juvenile voice of the young man inside.
"What's the bother, old girl?"
"A man and his daughter to see you."
"And the nature of their visit?"
"They want you to fall in love with the beautiful girl, and then
her father will escort you on a nice honeymoon to some love spot in
romantic night sky." As Yu-lin spoke, she turned her bright oriental
eyes to Threlkeld and winked.
Threlkeld felt his blood rush hot. In a mental transit to his daughter,
he said, "I think it high time I transferred my mind to you. You need
all the moral stamina you can get, and I see the power these Earthlings
have on the opposite sex. It is not good. Prepare the cavity of your
brain," he instructed, and seeing that Gelerie was a million light
years away, Threlkeld made the mind-switch alone and aimed his body at
a door marked _Men's Room_. Soon it disappeared.
* * * * *
The young Earthman rushed forward, unconcerned with the internal
workings of Threlkeld, fiddling with his frog glasses and blinking
as if he did not see well. Gelerie saw that he was thin, tall,
sandy-haired and extremely good looking. Her heart pounded and
Threlkeld's mind said, "Watch out." The young man smiled and extended
his hand to Gelerie. "You'll have to forgive the guide, madam. She
sometimes gets carried away. I am Twitty of the U.K. So glad to have
you aboard."
A nudge somewhere near Gelerie's brain awakened her. "I am afraid I am
here for a very strange reason--the very reason Yu-lin stated. I want
you to fall in love with me."
Twitty replaced his glasses. "I think I'll go back and come out again.
My dear, you are a lovely creature, but back home I am engaged to a
girl who won three local beauty contests on the way to the title of
Miss Britain."
"And did she win Miss Britain?"