"Which aliens?" Balthazar asks cheerfully, but he's setting things out on the desktop, businesslike. "The grays or the reptillianoids?"

...what? He doesn't watch television, but he does listen to the radio and frequent independent bookstores.

Following Dave's gaze, he looks subtly pleased. "The outer circle is mostly silver. It has a stabilizing effect, without cancelling any spellwork withing the ring."