"My name is Norma."
"Norma." His emotions were tangled beyond solution. He wanted to say, 'I'll stay behind when the others leave, will that make everything all right, you won't blame me, you won't blame me for it if I stay behind, will you?' His mind hurt with the confusion.
"We thought, if you'd go away, if the people thought we'd actually lost you...."
"It's not for me to make any kind of decision. I'll have to ask. Would that be all right, sir?"
Norma blinked. She did not understand to whom the question was addressed. Her eyes followed his to the wall, a concealed microphone? She felt a little prickle of fear.
The Oligarch stood in the doorway behind her. "That will be agreeable with us."
She whirled guiltily.
"Bud wanted to, to see Herb tonight...." Norma felt resentment against this man in the doorway. "I was told to bring Herb."
"I will be able to speak for my government."
"I was told to bring Herb," Norma said stubbornly. Bud had not specified, but she told herself that she would not yield to a stranger. She did not consider Herb a stranger. "Isn't it all right to take him?"