“Look again,” said Noxon. “Their heads are quite large, for mice, and their bones and musculature are sturdier in order to bear the added brain weight. Also, they have tiny electrical connectors at the tip of each toe. Or finger. Or whatever. They can stick their paws into computer sockets and link up directly to their brains.”

“So they’re all computer peripherals?” asked Wheaton.

“No,” said Noxon. “All computers are mouse peripherals.”

“You came back,” said a mouse.

“They’re talking to me now,” said Noxon. “You’ll only hear my side of the conversation. I may switch languages.”

“The mice talk,” said Deborah.

“In very high voices,” said Noxon. “And most of it is lying.”

“So unfair,” said a mouse.

“Judgmental,” said another.

“Glad you’re back,” said a third.

“One of you at a time,” said Noxon. “Who speaks for all?”

“For the moment,” said one, “me.” It was a female, and she moved toward him, away from the pack.

“No,” said Noxon. “I know what you are. I want the alpha.”

“You’ll kill him,” said the spokeswoman.

“That’s quite possible,” said Noxon. “But it’s not my plan at the moment, because I need you, and I need to be able to assess your intentions and your capabilities.”

“If you think you can possibly understand us . . .” said the spokesmouse.

“I understand you at least as well as you understand us,” said Noxon. “The alpha, now.”

Another mouse came forward.

“You hide your maleness well.”

“Huge testes didn’t suit our purposes,” said the alpha. “We bred them out. What do you want with us?”

Noxon explained about the alien attackers.

“So you want us to prevent their computer infiltration,” said the alpha.

“That might be interesting, but it wouldn’t solve the problem,” said Noxon.

“You’re going to journey to their world before they evolved and destroy them,” said the alpha.

“Now you’re getting closer.”

“Is there any way to assess their biology before we make that voyage?”

“No,” said Noxon. “We never saw them come out of their airships and we’re not interested in going back into the future to lure them out. We’re going to leave from now and make the voyage.”

“I understand your fear that they might overpower you,” said the alpha. “It should give you some idea of how we feel about you.”

“I know that you betrayed me regularly long before I gave you any reason to do so,” said Noxon. “So now you see my dilemma.”

“I don’t,” said Deborah.

The alpha rattled off his answer. “You need us to be free allies, but you can’t trust us not to take over the ship during the voyage.”

“I want to travel with you now as equals,” said Noxon. “I want you to have full access to the ship’s databanks. I don’t see how you can be useful if you don’t have your full range of information and power.”