'And your sister?'
'What do you mean, Peter?'
'She wouldn't do any touching ...'
'Liala wouldn't touch a man,' Crispin protested angrily. 'The sensory elements of her inner-mammalian brain have been dampened so as to inhibit the neural responses that might otherwise be generated by unseemly tactile or visual encounters with persons of the opposite gender ... as you know from your research on lizards.'
'The inner-mammalian brain is the part we inherited from our reptilian ancestors,' Peter agreed. 'Evolution should have made it redundant when we achieved a higher level of cognitive awareness ... but it didn't.'
'No,' Crispin nodded. 'It continued to drive our ancestors to unseemly reproductive practices, the full danger of which only became evident after The Fall. That's why it is so important to have them suppressed.'
'I sometimes wonder if Liala's were suppressed,' Peter said.
'What are you getting at?'
'The guardians don't always get it right.'
'I've often told you that, Peter.'
'Well. They might not have got it right with her. Have you noticed how she always goes out with the dolphins when the fishermen are about? She sometimes gets very close when they are diving ... close enough to touch.'
'I'm sure my sister wouldn't do such a thing.'
'I'm not saying she would. I'm just pointing out that she's on the island with a man and there's no way we can get her off until tomorrow. She will have to spend the night out there.'
'But, as I've just told you, the man is a servant of the Lord of Light,' Crispin said. 'He will make sure that no harm befalls her.'
'I'm sure you are right.'
'You are not just saying that to please me?'
'No. I really mean it.' Peter closed the flap on his spy hole. 'Liala is in safe hands. Relax. She will be alright.'