Komso's face reddened angrily. "But he is—" he began, and then stopped abruptly.
"You would take this one, then, into Tana itself?" His voice conveyed the impression that such a course was unheard of.
The girl nodded, motioning Barry to follow.
"Sacrilege! Offspring of a blasphemer!" Komso shouted.
Xintel did not pause.
Komso motioned and someone in the dark tunnel behind him placed a loaded crossbow in his hands. He swung the weapon to cover the Earthman.
"Over my dead body shall this alien thing enter Tana," he snarled.
Barry stood motionless and helpless, trying to conceal his fear.
Xintel's voice was coldly defiant. "So be it, then. Over your dead body, if you insist."
With a movement of feline grace and speed she snatched a tube-weapon from her belt. She was bluffing. Barry had seen the savages who had captured her test the weapons and find them unloaded. But Komso had not.