The
black-and-white striped fur, the sharply pointed ears, were neither
canine nor feline, but a weird combination of the two.
Dane gabbled two trading formulas under his breath and tried to think of
the relation of Samantine rock coinage to galactic credits. Only this
time his defenses did not work. From between the two shuffling dancers
padded something on four feet. The canine-feline creature was more than
just a head; it was a loose-limbed, graceful body fully eight feet in
length, and the red eyes in the prick-eared head were those of a
confident killer. It walked without restraint, lazily, with arrogance,
its white-tufted tail swinging. And when it reached the mid-point of the
terrace, it flung up its head as if to challenge. But words issued from
between those curved fangs, words which Dane might not understand but
which undoubtedly held meaning for the men nodding in time to the
hypnotic cadence of that da--da--da....
"Beautiful!" Tau spoke in honest admiration, his own eyes almost as
feral as those of the talking beast as he leaned forward, his fists on
his knees.
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