NOT PARTICULARLY

The cab arrived and Eric, along with Deg Dal Il, entered it. Soon they were in the air, turning in the direction of Tijuana.

Eric said, ‘I know you’re an officer in reeg intelligence. That’s why I bought you.’

The box remained blank. But the reeg trembled. His opaque, compound eyes became even more filmed-over and the false ones gaped emptily.

‘I’ll take the risk of telling you this right now,’ Eric said. ‘I’m an intermediary acting to bring you together with someone high in UN circles. It’s in your interest, yours and your people’s, to co-operate with me. You will be dropped off at my firm—’

The box came to life.