Read "The Ethical Engineer" by Harry Harrison online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
It did not kill him at once, but stood staring down at him, and as the slow seconds ticked by and Jason was still alive he forced himself to consider this menace that appeared from the blackness.
"_K'e vi stas el.? _" the creature said, and for the first time Jason realized it was human. The meaning of the question picked at the edge of his exhausted brain, he felt he could almost understand it, though he had never heard the language before. He tried to answer but there was only a hoarse gargle from his throat.