There was an odd bass rambling which Grant recognized as the voice of a Uranian. He shivered. Then there were words, and Grant knew the Uranian, wherever he was⁠—maybe in a different room⁠—was using a modifier to turn his sounds into Earth-language: “Walk closer,” ordered the queer voice. “I want to watch your face.”

It scraped the marrow in his bones, that queer voice. He saw a big tunnel, and at the far end of it, barely discernible in the dim light, was Relegar. Grant stared, chilled. His eyes became used to the queer light, and then he began to make out details. The tunnel was round and big enough so that a man could have walked into it, and at the far end the big Uranian seemed to be standing on his side, with his sixteen huge jointed legs supporting him, half of them on the floor and half on the ceiling. His purple, hairy body was supported in the middle almost as from a web. His two semi-globular eyes, seemingly opaque, were surrounded by six smaller ones. Grant knew the smaller ones could detect infrared, and now he felt his face growing warm and knew they had on infra spot on him.

“What did you find in the swamp?” asked that dissonant voice.

Grant swallowed and licked his lips. “Nothing,” he said finally.

The great maw of the spider, rimmed in red, opened wide as if the Uranian was yawning. It showed long, curving white fangs. Then Relegar said, “You found stones of the echindul.”

“I have only one,” said Grant, and held it out fearfully.

A curious red began to creep over Relegar’s body. His next words were deadly: “One is no good. You found many. What did you do with them?”

Grant watched the great, gray poison-mandibles lift, and he was terrified. He wanted to speak but he could not.