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As he opened the door to his bubble, a spicy floral smell wafted over him. Without even thinking Bleyd drew his blaster.

"Move and I’ll cook you where you stand," he said.

"I won’t move, Admiral. Though I’m not standing at the moment."

The voice had a musical and amused lilt to it. Bleyd passed his free hand in front of the room’s lighting con-trol and the hut’s interior lit up, revealing the figure of a Silent-obviously a disguise, since by speaking he had broken the siblinghood’s most sacred tenet. The robed and cowled being sat on Bleyd’s cot, leaning against the wall.

Bleyd did not lower the blaster. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"If I may?" The other raised his hands slowly to the sides of his head.

Bleyd nodded. "Slowly, and with great care."

The figure slipped the cowl back to reveal his face.

It was not the countenance of any being Bleyd had ever seen before, and he had been around the galaxy more than a few times. The face was vaguely birdlike, with sharp, violet eyes, a nose and mouth that could have been a short beak, and pale blue skin that might be either extremely fine fur or feathers; Bleyd could not tell which from where he stood. The head was smooth, the ears flat and set close against the skull, and there was a hint of darker blue at the base of the throat. Quite strik-ing, the admiral thought; he had certainly seen more un-attractive bipeds.

The being smiled-Bleyd assumed he was male-and there were at least several pointed teeth in the thin-lipped beak-mouth. The beak seemed to be formed of rubbery cartilaginous material rather than keratin, which gave it a limited range of expression.

There was also more than a hint of danger glinting in those eyes. This was a deadly creature, whatever its ori-gins or intentions.

"I am Kaird, of the Nediji."

Nediji? Nediji... he had heard the name... ah, yes, he remembered it now. An avian species from a far-flung world called Nedij on the east spinward arm. Bleyd frowned. There was something else unusual about them... what was it...?

"I didn’t realize the Nediji traveled outside their own system. I seem to recall hearing that such journeying was taboo."

"If one is properly nested, yes, that is true," the Nediji replied. His melodious voice was as pleasant to hear as his scent was to whiff, but the cold, calculating look in those eyes was all Bleyd cared about. As in most species, the truth could always be found in the eyes.

"But there are some among us who, for one reason or another, cannot be of The Flock,"

Kaird continued. "No one cares where the winds bear us." There was no regret in the words; what Bleyd heard instead was amusement.

"Well, here, we do care if somebody breaks into our quarters. Explain yourself-quickly."

He gestured slightly with the blaster.

There was a small click! behind him, as if someone was trying his closed door. Bleyd shifted his attention to the sound for a heartbeat-The Nediji vanished.

No, that was not strictly true. The being had moved, but so fast that Bleyd couldn’t believe what he was see-ing. Of a moment, he was sitting on the cot, and then in an eyeblink he stood next to Bleyd, out of the blaster’s line of fire, close enough to touch.

Bleyd started to shift his aim, but stopped. If the fel-low could move that swiftly in a one-gravity field, he would never be able to line up on him in time if he had a weapon of his own and wanted to use it.

He lowered the blaster.

"Wise move, Admiral."

Bleyd caught a flash of light on something in the Nediji’s hand, then whatever it was disappeared.

"All right," Bleyd said. "You’ve established that you’re faster than a dirt-demon. Though if I hadn’t been distracted by that noise-"

Kaird walked back toward the cot, a slow stroll that had definite elements of avian locomotion in it. When he reached it, he turned, flashed his teeth again, and said, "You mean this noise?"

The click! came again. Bleyd did not allow it to dis-tract him this time.

Kaird held up a small device the size of his thumb - the thing that had caught the light a moment before. He had yellowish