Instinctively he responded to her kiss—until he remembered Xintel and his own condition.
"I won't be able to stay," he told her, deliberately making his voice harsh. "I'm not cured and probably never will be."
"But—but your water machine can be fixed," she protested.
"There's more than that," he said, and with an effort turned away.
IX
"As I was saying, gentlemen. Using the electric secondaries from the ships, with submerged electrodes, you can set up a high-voltage, low-amperage barrier across the slough that will stun without killing. If this first attack can be warded off without killing, perhaps we can establish friendly relations."
"What makes you think they could be friendly?" a man asked suspiciously.
"Because of a girl named Xintel who would undoubtedly become their leader if Komso were killed or discredited. She saved my life, and since then we have lived together and fought side by side. She is waiting on the edge of the swamp now, an outcast from her own people because she dared help me."
Dorothy understood more from his tone than his words alone conveyed. Her face paled.