Boone let his arm fall. He frowned into the darkness. "Then why—?"
"Can't you guess?" All at once the girl sounded weary; almost bitter. "There's going to be trouble, Fred. Trouble with Krobis. You know that."
"Oh."
"He won't forget what you did. He'll break you for it. And—and I won't like that."
"You ... won't like it?"
"You know I won't. You—you saved my life."
Boone could feel his muscles tensing. In spite of him, his voice came edged: "Then that's all that's bothering you? You just don't want to see me get in trouble?"
"No, no!—Oh, I don't know!" Eileen's words were suddenly stumbling and uneven. "It's just that—well, you showed me something, Fred, when you tried to stop me. How you feel about me. How my work doesn't really matter to you."
"I see." Boone's mood turned raw and savage. "Maybe you even figure like Krobis pretended he did—that I was just jealous of your assignment when I barged into this business."
"Fred!" And then: "You're trying to hurt me, Fred. I hurt you, so now you want to pay me back."