The creature slithered round the other side of the holding cylinders and its three prisoners turned to face it. "I am no mere s.. specialist confined to one field of s... science", it boasted. "I am interes...s...s..ted in everything! Knowledge of all kinds is important for profits s..s..." "There are many things s... I do not yet know about this world but I mean to find out. You girls.. s... have been helping me but I only need two ass s... s... istants and now there is this newcomer - this s.. male. I have decided that the male and one of you females will be kept to serve me. The other female I am now free to use in my physiology and dissection experiments. The last specimen was more fragile than I had allowed for and perished too s... s.. oon but this time my tests will be better and las...s...t longer" Klane remembered with horror that the Riders told him the creature took three of their fairest maidens, yet he had only seen these two. It was apparent that something terrible had happened to the third girl. Lucalle turned pale and began to sob softly whilst Ketha screamed a name in incoherent rage. "S... SILENCE! I have n... n... ot finished!" The sudden amplification of the creature's voice was accompanied by a kind of sonic damping wave which muffled the noises from the glass prisons. The creature waited until the young women had calmed a little. "I wish also to conduct another exs... speriment.", it continued. "I n... n..eed to know about the psychology and biology of your reproductive rituals and processes. Now I have a male I can s... study human breeding. The two ass.. s.. itents will be mated. And I want to learn about s... sexual selection between humans. S... so this is what will happen." "I s.. shall give each of you females one night to spend with the male. You must compete to impres... s... him." The creature turned to Klane. "When the two nights are over, YOU are the one who must choose. The outcome is a matter of indifference to me, except for the ps... s...ychology of the study. You must determine the fate of Lucalle and Ketha, saving one to be your mate and condemning the other to be used in my physiology and dissection experiments!"