"My partner and yours are cutting logs above us," she said. "We can be alone for several hours...."
Brink pushed her soft palm from his arm. For the past three weeks physical exhaustion and unwonted exercise had driven any desire for her from his thoughts. She was Carby's partner for a year—and Carby was his friend.
"Don't get me wrong, Dorav!" Her eyes flashed. They were blue and very dark and clear. "I want to go back to the Earth—to York Dome, to Sippi Dome or one of the other two domes in North America."
"I think we all do at times," Brink said coldly. "But it's not possible. Earth is forty or fifty light years away."
"I know a way." Rea Smyt's eyes were bright. "But I need a partner. Bryt won't go—he likes it here. And your blonde cow of a partner...."
"Tzal is okay," Brink said angrily. "Shut your mouth and go back to your own cabin before I—"
"We could go across the plains to the old ruins," Rea cried hastily, "and then journey down...."
Brink's work-roughened fingers spun her about facing toward Carby's cabin and the round gray tent beside it at the opposite end of the knoll.
Rea was sobbing angrily.
"I'll go by myself," she cried. "You fools can stay here and live like beasts—it's so simple if you only...."