The Complete Stories_ Volume 1 - Isaac Asimov [347]
"Is he still reluctant?" said the Captain, impatiently.
"Apparently," said Botax. "The strange surroundings, you know, may be extending that stage of the cooperation. Since I know this is unpleasant for you, I will perform this stage of the ritual myself. It is frequently written in the space-travel tales that an outer-world species performs the task. For instance, here," and he riffled through his notes finding the one he wanted, "they describe a very awful such species. The creatures on the planet have foolish notions, you understand. It never occurs to them to imagine handsome individuals such as ourselves, with a fine mucous cover."
"Go on! Go on! Don't take all day," said the Captain.
"Yes, Captain. It says here that the extraterrestrial 'came forward to where the girl stood. Shrieking hysterically, she was cradled in the monster's embrace. Talons ripped blindly at her body, tearing the kirtle away in rags.' You see, the native creature is shrieking with stimulation as her skins are removed."
"Then go ahead, Botax, remove it. But please, allow no shrieking. I'm trembling all over with the sound waves." Botax said politely to Marge, "If you don't mind—"
One spatulate finger made as though to hook on to the neck of the dress.
Marge wiggled desperately. "Don't touch. Don't touch! You'll get slime on it. Listen, this dress cost $24.95 at Ohrbach's. Stay away, you monster. Look at those eyes on him." She was panting in her desperate efforts to dodge the groping, extraterrestrial hand. "A slimy, bug-eyed monster, that's what he is. Listen, I'll take it off myself. Just don't touch it with slime, for God's sake."
She fumbled at the zipper, and said in a hot aside to Charlie, "Don't you dast look." Charlie closed his eyes and shrugged in resignation.
She stepped out of the dress. "All right? You satisfied?"
Captain Garm's fingers twitched with unhappiness. "Is that the bosom? Why does the other creature keep its head turned away?"
"Reluctance. Reluctance," said Botax. "Besides, the bosom is still covered. Other skins must be removed. When bared, the bosom is a very strong stimulus. It is constantly described as ivory globes, or white spheres, or otherwise after that fashion. I have here drawings, visual picturizations, that come from the outer covers of the space-travel magazines. If you will inspect them, you will see that upon every one of them, a creature is present with a bosom more or less exposed." The Captain looked thoughtfully from the illustrations to Marge and back. "What is ivory?"
"That is another made-up flash of my own. It represents the tusky material of one of the large sub-intelligent creatures on the planet."
"Ah," and Captain Garm went into a pastel green of satisfaction. "That explains it. This small creature is one of a warrior sect and those are tusks with which to smash the enemy."
"No, no. They are quite soft, I understand." Botax's small brown hand flicked outward in the general direction of the objects under discussion and Marge screamed and shrank away.
"Then what other purpose do they have?"
"I think," said Botax with considerable hesitation, "that they are used to feed the young."
"The young eat them?" asked the Captain with every evidence of deep distress.
"Not exactly. The objects produce a fluid which the young consume."
"Consume a fluid from a living body? Yech-h-h." The Captain covered his head with all three of his arms, calling the central supernumerary into use for the purpose, slipping it out of its sheath so rapidly as almost to knock Botax over.
"A three-armed, slimy, bug-eyed monster," said Marge.
"Yeah," said Charlie.
"All right you, just watch those eyes. Keep them to yourself."
"Listen, lady. I'm trying not to look."
Botax approached again. "Madam, would you remove the rest?"
Marge drew herself up as well as she could against the pinioning field. "Never!"
"I'll remove it, if you wish."