"I'm safe, I assure you." Mahmoud thought of telling Jubal that he would never marry out of his faith, decided that a gentile would take it amiss - even a rare exception like Jubal.  He changed the subject. "But, Jubal, don't make a suggestion like that to Mike.  He wouldn't grok that you were joking - and you might have a corpse on your hands.  I don't know... I don't know that Mike can actually think himself dead.  But he would try... and if he were truly a Martian, it would work."