The artigrav field ceased abruptly. The relief of the excess weight was so strong that Nezla felt about to float upward. Her heartbeat speeded up and she gulped enormous lungsful of air. Her headache returned as a dull pounding, her feet were pins and needles. But, as bad as she felt, the Lithuwaa looked worse.
At first they couldn’t move, and when they did their tentacles waved drunkenly about in an uncoordinated and almost comical confusion. It took them several minutes to regain their senses, and by that time Nezla was well in command of the situation.
“All right, you motherdrummin’ wormheads,” she began in a conversational tone, “I doubt you understand a word I’m sayin’, but I’ll bet you can understand this.”
She turned on the welding torch she had brought, and let the aliens all se
