“An innocent victim of circumstances,” Kennon said. “You didn’t know. None of us knew. And we still wouldn’t know if the Lani weren’t of Betan extraction.” He grimaced painfully. “I’ve done some soul-searching myself, and it hasn’t been a pleasant task.”
“But it’s nothing like mine,” Alexander said in a low voice. “I suspected they were human when I was younger, but I denied my suspicions and accepted false facts instead of investigating.”
“You would have found nothing.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not true. We discovered quite a bit from the experimental station you left us when you disappeared ten years ago. But we stopped when we found the age that was being indoctrinated with Lani tabus. We could have gone farther, but I didn’t think it was necessary.”
“Didn’t Douglas tell you?” Kennon asked curiously. “I told him when I turned him loose.”
“Douglas didn’t tell anything except that you had somehow gotten a spaceship. I assumed it was one of those that were involved in that commercial raid a few decades ago, but I see it wasn’t. No—I knew nothing about this development. And Douglas, I guess, wanted to keep it hidden. He gave your co-ordinates and ordered Mullins to launch a missile. But he apparently forgot to turn on his IFF. At any rate the missile lost you—but found Douglas. Douglas was still talking to Alexandria when it struck.”
“He might have informed you,” Kennon said. “If he had more time.”
“I doubt it. He ordered the missile first. He was trying to destroy you before you could destroy Outworld Enterprises. His motives were selfish as usual.” Alexander looked at Kennon with a haggard eye. “I owe you an apology,” he said. “I’ve considered you responsible for Douglas’s death for ten years. I’ve searched for you on a hundred worlds. My agents in every branch office have had standing orders to report any unusual arrivals. I have hunted you personally. I wanted to break you—I wanted to kill you.”
“I couldn’t help the delay,” Kennon said. “The ship was old.”
“I know. You’ve told me more than you think. I’m a telepath, you know.”