"He'll get it back," said Scyth. "I'm not concerned over the result. It's happened before and it will probably happen again."
"It's more than possible that Dusty will be vindicated but will then be blamed for not doing something about it," said Barbara.
"That cannot be helped. Dusty couldn't do anything about it, you know. And if Dusty loses out in the long run, we can't permit the well-being of one lonely man to stand in the way of galactic progress."
Barbara smiled confidently, but with a slightly sour twist to her pretty lips; it led Scyth to think that there was some derision in her mind. She confirmed it by saying, "Scyth, since you are going on with your program no matter what happens, and your concern about warning the people has worked no matter what happens to Dusty Britton, why do you bother coming back for a look-see?"
Scyth squirmed uncomfortably. Despite certain jokes to the contrary, it is not acceptable to confront a desirable young lady of barely speaking acquaintance and flatly state the delicate proposition. The difficulty here was that no matter how he tried, Barbara Crandall was turning the trend of conversation right back onto the old original trail.
"You're an actress," he said.
"So I'm told."
Scyth smiled. "You're popular? You are in demand here?"
"I am on my way up," she said.