"We call it," Larry told him, grinning, "the jackass!"
* * * * *
The tour of inspection completed, Harg returned his two captives to the
cell they shared. When the door closed behind him, Larry turned swiftly
to Sandra.
"Now what? I'm not sure I understand just what's going on around here,
but whatever it is, it means trouble. Spelled with a capital 'Harg.'
That little monkey didn't knock me cold with his yellow fuzz just for
the hell of it. He means business."
"I'm afraid," said Sandra seriously, "he intends to do just what he
said--and in just as offhand a manner as that in which he mentioned it.
To probe our brains for race memories, then dissect us for biological
knowledge."
"But why?" demanded Larry. "For Lord's sake, why? We're human beings,
the same as he. He couldn't kill us in cold blood, just to--"
"To him," said Sandra, "we are nothing but a pair of savages. He is not
being deliberately cruel, no more so than a Twentieth Century scientist
who practices vivisection to add to his knowledge. He is proud of us
as an acquisition. May even like us in some cold, inhuman fashion, as
we like cats and dogs. But we represent a scientific problem to be
solved--and there is no thought in his mind of mercy."
"Then," said Larry forcefully, "we've got to pull our freight. Get out
of here. But how? That's the rub."
"We're helpless against him," mused the girl, "on all save one point.
That is the subject he wanted to avoid. Hearing. Larry--Harg can't
hear! Not as we understand the word. His ears have atrophied. Or,
perhaps--" A sudden light shone in her eyes. "I have it! His ears are--"
"Wait a minute!" broke in Larry excitedly. "For once I beat you to the
draw. I guessed it in the museum. These jaspers of the 260th Century
are not only _unable_ to hear, they're _afraid_ to hear! They wear
those leather headgears because they have to. Because something had
made them extremely sensitive to percussion."
"And I know," chimed in the girl positively, "what caused it. It was
the change!"
"Change?"
"Yes. You've noticed the sky, haven't you? Didn't you see something
strange about it?"