"Rett, where have you been? All these weeks, Holmer and I almost going crazy—"
Birrel had an answer for that, all prepared. "They caught me. They questioned me, time after time. Finally, when they couldn't get anything out of me, they were going to hold me for trial."
Kara nodded swiftly. "We guessed that, when we finally saw the newspaper mention of an unidentified spy being held. They didn't suspect who you really are?"
He had his answer ready for that too. "No. They still don't dream of such a thing. They thought I was from another country here."
"But the Irrian?" Kara pressed. "What became of him?"
It took Birrel completely by surprise. "Irrian?" It was only a meaningless name to him. He had no answer for this, at all.
He said, floundering, "What do you mean—"
"Vannevan's man," she said, impatiently. "The Irrian you were trailing. Rett, try to clear your mind. Did the Earthmen catch the Irrian too?"
It made no sense at all to Birrel. All he could gather was that the dead spy, Rett, had, when killed near that atomic depot, been trailing someone. Someone called "the Irrian" and "Vannevan's man." Who was Vannevan?