Seeing Zelda, Clocker rushed to her chair, hauled her upright, kissed her, squeezed her.
"Baby!" he said, more choked up than he thought his control would allow. "Let's get out of here!"
She looked at him without surprise. "Oh, hello, Clocker. Later. I want to hear the rest of this lecture."
"Ain't you glad to see me?" he asked, hurt. "I spend months and shoot every dime I got just to find you—"
"Sure I'm glad to see you, hon," she said, trying to look past him at the speaker. "But this is so important—"
Barnes came up, bowed politely. "If you don't mind, Miss Zelda, I think you ought to talk to your husband."
"But what about the lecture?" asked Zelda anxiously.
"I can get a transcription for you to study later."
"Well, all right," she agreed reluctantly.
Barnes left them on a strangely warm stone bench in the great square, after asking them to report back to work at the usual time. Zelda, instead of looking at Clocker, watched Barnes walk away. Her eyes were bright; she almost radiated.