The leader nodded suavely. "That is a very ... uh ... commendable desire," he said in a low, gentle voice that was a perfect match for his outward appearance of high gentility. "We can always use a good man," he continued, "who isn't afraid ... nor too squeamish."
"A trigger-man?" Hanlon shrugged. "If it pays well, okay."
The man seemed to recoil, his delicate hands fluttering in the air almost femininely. "No, no, my dear young man. You misunderstood me entirely. We do nothing so crude, so vulgar, so ... so brutal. Oh, sometimes we ... uh ... sometimes an accident happens to someone. But nothing, you understand, that we have anything to do with. Your technique with the poor Mr. Abrams, who was so suddenly taken ... ill ... had led me to hope you had more finesse."
"I beg your pardon," Hanlon's tone was now one of apology. "I can finesse, all right, but I didn't know you wanted me to talk that way in private. I'll remember, and respect your wishes from now on."
Inwardly he was puzzled. He kept trying to touch that mind, but could not. Was the guy human--or did he have a mind-control of some sort? Was he used to mind-reading, so that he had developed a defense against it?
Or--and Hanlon almost caught his breath in momentary fear--was this ape a mind reader? A real one, not a dub like himself?
But the leader was answering, still in that gentle tone, as though nothing had happened. "So ... so ... that is good. I hate the thought of bloodshed, and I will not countenance roughness in actions or speech. It is regrettable, of course, that sometimes men are stupid enough to oppose us, but ..." and again that almost feminine gesture.
This was the silkiest, slimiest ... _thing_ ... George Hanlon had ever encountered, and again his heart quailed for the moment. "If I was on my own," he shuddered inwardly, "I'd sure never team up with a guy like that!"
For there was no single iota of mercy or compassion in that ice-cold mind behind that gentle face--of that Hanlon was sure.
There was a long, pregnant moment of silence, while the five men studied Hanlon more carefully. Finally the man behind the desk spoke more slowly. "Perhaps--just perhaps, you understand, and nothing definite as yet--we may have a little job for you before long. On another planet. You have no objections to travel?"