"Murderers from beyond the stars," he offers jovially, since she's not willing to say it. They can leave aside the question of the legitimacy of her spying, not to mention the extent of her awareness that she's being used by powers greater than either of theirs. They still have more salient questions at hand.

And this one seems liable to make or break their work together, so he does her the service of a real answer. "Have you heard of cattle mutilations?"