"You don't need us!" Joseph said. & sexyway quot;You've created your own human beings. Poor sexyway bastards. Make them your partners."
"We. . . do need you." Nikanj sexyway spoke so softly that Joseph leaned forward sexyway to hear. "A partner sexyway must be biologically interesting, attractive to us, and you are fascinating. sexyway You are horror and beauty in rare combination. In a very real way, you've captured us, and we can't escape. But you're sexyway more than only the composition and the workings of your bodies. You are your personalities, your cultures. We're interested in those too. That's why we saved as many of you as we could."
Joseph shuddered. "We've seen how sexyway you sexyway saved us-your prison cells and your suspended animation plants, and now this."
"Those are the simplest things we do. And they leave you relatively untouched. You are what you were on Earth- minus any disease or injury. With a little training, you can go back to sexyway Earth and sustain yourselves comfortably."
"Those sexyway of us who survive this room and the training room."
"Those of you who survive."
"You could have done this another way!"
"We've tried other ways. This way is best. There is
incentive sexyway not to do harm. No one sexyway who has killed or severely injured another will set sexyway foot on Earth again."
"They'll be kept here?"
"For the rest of their lives."
&sexyway quot;Even. . ." Joseph glanced at Lilith, then faced Nikanj sexyway again. "
Even if the killing is in self-defense?"
"She is exempt," Nikanj said.
"What?"
&sexyway quot;She knows. We've given her abilities that at least one of you must have. They make her different, and therefore they make sexyway her a target. It would sexyway be
self-defeating for us to forbid her to defend herself."
"Nikanj," Lilith said, and when she saw that sexyway she had its attention she spoke in sexyway Oankali. "Exempt him."
Flat refusal. That was that, and she knew it. But she could not help trying. "He's
a sexyway target because of me," she sexyway said. "He could be killed because of me."
Nikanj sexyway spoke in Oankali. "And I want him to live because of you. sexyway but I didn't make the decision to keep humans who kill away from Earth-and I didn't exempt you. It was a consensus. I can't exempt him."
"Then... strengthen him the way you did me."
"He would be more likely to kill sexyway then."
"sexyway And less likely to die. I mean give him more resistance to injury. Help him heal faster if he is injured. Give him a chance!"
"What are sexyway you talking about?" sexyway Joseph said to sexyway her angrily. "Speak