Collector's Item

"We'reall going to a Sirian zoo, anyway."

  "Correctly," approved the monster-bat. "Finest zoo. Clean. Commodiouscages. Reasonable visiting hours. Very nice."

  Mrs. Bernardi began to cry.

  "Now," the vine comforted her, "a zoo's not so bad. After all, most ofus spend our lives in cages of one kind or another, and without thebasic security a zoo affords--"

  "But we don't know we're in cages," Mrs. Bernardi sobbed. "That's theimportant thing."

  Professor Bernardi looked at the vine. "But why are you--" he began,then halted. "Perhaps I don't want an answer," he said. There was nohope at all left in him, now that there was no doubt.

  "You are wise," the vine agreed quietly. Algol arose from Mr. Bernardi'slap and rubbed against its thick pale green stem. He knew. Themosquito-bat looked at both of them restlessly.

  The yellow haze had deepened to old gold. Now it was beginning to turnbrown.

  "It's twilight," Miss Anspacher observed. "Soon it will be dark."

  "Perhaps we'll sail right past his ship in the night," Mortlandsuggested hopefully.

  The mosquito-bat gave a snort. "Ship has lights. All modernconvenients."

  Suddenly the air seemed to have grown chilly--colder than it had anyright to be on that torrid planet. All around them, it was dark and veryquiet.

  "I think I do see lights," Mortland said.

  "Must be ship," Monster replied. And somehow the rest of them couldsense the uneasiness in the thin, piping, alien voice. "Must be!"

  "Your ship's a very large one then," Bernardi commented as they roundeda bend and a whole colony of varicolored pastel lights sprang up aheadof them.

  "Not my ship!" the mosquito-bat exclaimed in a voice pierced withanguish. "Not my ship!"

  Before them rose the fantastic, twisting, convoluting, turning spires ofa tall, marvelous, glittering city.

  "You will find that the streets actually are filled with chlorophyll,"the vine said. "And I know you'll be happy here, all of you. You see, wecan't have you going back to your planets now. No matter how good yourintentions were, you'd destroy us. You do see that, don't you?"

  "You may be right," Bernardi agreed dispiritedly, "although that doesn'tcheer us any. But what will you do with us?"

  "You'll be provided with living quarters comparable to those on your ownplanets," the vine told him, "and you'll give lectures just as if youwere in a university--only you'll be much more secure. I assure you--"its voice was very gentle now--"you'll hardly know you're in a zoo."