"If only that were all there was to worry about," Clarey sighed wistfully.
She whirled on him. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself!" The sudden loss of control in that dark amazon was more threatening than anything that had happened yet.
"I'm not feeling sorry for myself," he said. "It's the Damorlanti I feel sorry for."
"You feel sorry for them because you identify with them. That makes you sorry for yourself."
She misunderstood his motives as she misunderstood everything he did or said, but their rapport wasn't at stake now. "What are you going to do?" he forced himself to ask.
"The decision will have to be made on Earth. Unless you mean what's going to happen to you? That's simple—you'll go back with us. Blynn will stay here, pending orders."
The colonel saluted.
"But I thought I was going to stay here ten years," said Clarey.
"Five to ten years," she corrected. "Apparently five was enough—" She cut herself short. "What's the matter with me?" she suddenly exclaimed. "I've been letting myself think in the same woolly way you do."