Her hand trembled. "There's you and I, after that."
"I remember that, Zaleel. If I succeed, it's you and me together, in a new System of progress and change and hope. If I fail—"
"If we fail, Cadmus, there'll be nothing for you and me. Nothing for anyone, ever again."
He got to his feet quickly. "Zaleel, what's your part in it? Why are you dancing here?"
Red flushed her face. "I knew that one of Consar's scouts would find me during the worship. One has already found me. They'll be here to pick me up before dawn."
He gripped her shoulders, hard. His face worked with unvoiced emotion.
"I've got to do it, Cadmus. My father died in one of Consar's Lunarian mines. He died—horribly. I'll settle with Consar myself. I have an explosive lithium capsule which...." It would be easier to do it than to talk about it.
She finished. "Everything will be dead then that threatens our System. The Machine, Consar, the Guards—they'll die when the Machine goes. The council tower will be the next center of governmental operations, no matter who handles it. The people have grown accustomed to receiving all their commands from the Tower."
"I'll see you then," said Cadmus. "If we succeed." He went quickly out into the Street of Shadows.