10.
If Omosla's baby had been a boy, I believe that old Tomboldo would have named it for the highest honor in the Benzendella world. He was searching for a successor. Not among the grown-up warriors and counsellors. Among the infants. He sought a child favored by nature. Omosla was a beauty and a court favorite, even though she had been a servant. And Campbell, who was considered to be her mate, (though marriage had been delayed by circumstances) was of course a renowned hero. If the child had only been a boy!
I was kept busy reporting the reasons for Campbell's absence. He had stayed with our ship to guarantee Benzendella safety. Yes, it was true that he could fly through the air and catch up with us. But there were duties which kept him away.
My excuses wore thin. Vauna and her father begged me to tell him, over the radio, that Omosla was growing into a person of sorrow. The shadow of tragedy hovered over her.
I complied. I talked, by radio, with Campbell. He was in another part of the land, now, pursuing the purposes for which we had come. My mention of Omosla's plight aroused his defiance. He said he would rather be a deserter than serve a captain who did not accept his word. "For the last time, Captain Linden, I repeat that I am not the mate of Omosla. Do you believe me?"
"I don't know what to believe," I said.
His radio clicked off.
Vauna and her father and I secluded ourselves among the scales and talked. My one question was, Could there have been any other person among them who had come from another planet?
"You and Campbell. No others."