"Where did you pick up these three?” he asked. “And why did you bring them here?"
Stilicho Keene cackled, his rheumy eyes glistening.
"You'll find out who they are in a minute, Jenk,” he shrilled. “It's going to be a surprise for you, and all you other louts who call yourselves pirates."
A door in the rear of the room suddenly opened, and a girl in white silk jacket and trousers entered the room.
"You're back, Stilicho?” she exclaimed eagerly as she saw the old Martian. “What did you learn at Jupiter?"
Thorn's gaze riveted on the girl. He heard a low whisper from Sual Av behind him.
"So that's Lana Cain,” whispered the Venusian.
Lana Cain's eyes looked past the old Martian into Thorn's face. He felt the impact of her challenging stare as though it were a tangible shock.
The pirate girl was a slender, imperious figure in her silk garments. Her proud, graceful form seemed somehow vibrant with force. The bronze-gold hair that hung to her shoulders was like a casque of dull gold flame around her face, catching the glints of sunlight in its strands.
Her face was white, dynamic, with hardness in the straight red mouth and in the stubborn set of her small chin. Her dark blue eyes, as they stared into Thorn's face, were growing slowly darker, as though storm were gathering in them, tiny lightnings seeming to flash in their depths.