"There's no question about it when you are close. It's more
nearly a bird than anything else. It was warm-blooded. It has a beak.
There are penguins on Earth that have been mistaken for men.
"I did a show once," said Cochrane coldly, "that had clips of old films
of cockfighting in it. There was a kind of gamecock called Cornish Game
that was fairly manshaped. If it had been big enough--Pull in the sling
and close the lock. We're moving."
He turned away. Babs stood by Alicia, offering a handkerchief for Alicia
to put to her cheek. Jamison listened unhappily as Johnny Simms
explained brightly that he had always been that way. When he got excited
he didn't realize what he was doing. He said almost with pride that he
hadn't ever been any other way than that. He didn't really mean to kill
anybody, but when he got excited--.
"What happened?" demanded Holden.
"Our little psychopath," said Cochrane in a grating voice, "put on an
act. He threatened me with a rifle. He hit Alicia first. Jamison, trace
that bullet-hole. See if it got through to the skin of the ship."
He started for the stairs again. Then he was startled by the frozen
immobility of Holden.
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