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"But she only has eight eyes now!"<br />
"I will move forward with you, Dented-Shield," said one of the elders of the clan.<br />
"I will too," said another.<br />
"Wait!" said Crust-Crawler. "We are visitors from the stars in the sky. When our great ship came down<br />
from the stars we accidentally killed some of the Zebu Slinks that the clan was guarding. We would be<br />
more than willing to pay the Emperor for his loss."<br />
"It is good for you that you admit your crime, slave," said the Taker. "You are indeed a stranger.<br />
Otherwise you would know that the Emperor has no need of money. Money is for trade between slaves.<br />
What the Emperor wants, he takes."<br />
"We can give him a machine that makes food," said Crust-Crawler. "It will make more food than a great<br />
of food Slinks."<br />
The Taker paused, her eye-stub waves switching from one pattern to another as she considered.<br />
Crust-Crawler took advantage of the hesitation.<br />
"I have some samples right here," he said, moving over to the food mats. He picked up a half-dozen<br />
each of the red balls and the golden cubes and brought them back. Forming a strong manipulator he<br />
reached up over the back of the Swift and<br />
handed them to the Taker. The Taker took one each and looked them over carefully. Then she glared<br />
down at Crust-Crawler.<br />
"Eat them!" she commanded. "Now!" She watched carefully as he took them back from her and put<br />
them in a feeding pouch. After a few sethturns he opened his pouch to show her that they were gone. He<br />
then raised the rest up for her to choose another. She sucked carefully at the golden crystal, then<br />
dropped it in her eating pouch.<br />
"The Emperor will take the food machine," she said.<br />
"I will place it on another machine that will carry it for you," said Crust-Crawler.<br />
"I had better give them a cargo-glider," said Power-Pack. "It has a large accumulator. We don't want<br />
the Emperor to run out of food."<br />
Within a few methturns a cargo-glider was loaded with a second food machine and brought before the<br />
Taker.<br />
'This is the box that controls the glider," said Crust-Crawler. "I have set it for automatic. Wherever the<br />
box goes, the glider will follow."<br />
The Taker took the box, then called over the leader of the porters.<br />
"Here, slave," she said. "You carry the box. Be careful you do not damage the Emperor's food machine.<br />
The penalty will be severe."<br />
"Yes, Taker," said the porter. Crust-Crawler noticed that he only had nine eyes.
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