Caine held his hands at his sides, feeling his nerves tremble inside of him. It wasn't fear of the Venusians that made him tense. It was the boy with the pistol and the girl and the total of things.
They were in forbidden territory, trespassing on ground called sacred to the native people of this planet. Caine, who had worked so hard to help preserve the sanctity of these people's rights, had become now like the rest of the Colonists he had hated so much. He had brought the evil into the center of the Venusians' own private domain, and he was responsible.
"Did you hear me?" the boy screamed.
"Yes," Caine said, closing his fingers against his palms. "I heard you." He watched the muzzle of the gun. If the boy's eyes found the Venusians, he would pump the gun wildly at them and there would be death, and the impact of it could unbalance the whole structure of the relationship that already was leaning precariously.
"Well, then, you do what I tell you."
Caine's eyes narrowed.
"Nic," the girl said. "Do what he says. He's crazy, he—"
The boy's left hand lashed out and struck the girl. She stumbled to the ground.
"You shouldn't have done that," Caine said, stepping forward.
The boy crouched, holding the gun with both hands. "You don't move any further. Do you hear? You don't move any further!"