I thought it over. "In that case, I'd be forced to comply with their wishes."
To his credit, this unexpected statement on my part only stopped his tongue for a moment. He immediately tried a new approach. "And if the Ancients decide to destroy her anyhow?"
"Why should they?" I said, less sure of myself.
He cocked his head to one side, watching me. "No," he shook his head, "now I think of it, they wouldn't destroy her. They'd hold her captivity over your head, forcing you to return so that they might destroy you."
"Me?" I said, startled.
"Surely you can see why?" he went on smoothly. "After all, why were they out to destroy me, Mister Delvin?"
"Because you knew—" I said, then halted, stunned.
"—How to destroy them," Baxter finished for me. "The selfsame information which you now possess. What do you think your chances are for survival now?"
My guard wavered in that fleeting moment of realization. I caught the flicker of movement just a second too late.
Charlie, out of my thoughts for an instant, had whipped his collapser out of his holster and brought it to bear on me.