Laapet touched Deborah very gently—so that she came over to me, I rose to my feet and put my arm around Deborah; she was trembling.
"Oh, Steve," she whispered huskily.
Vechi took his eyes from Laapet and looked at us.
"There is something more valuable on Mars than diranium—to me," he said. "You have guessed, of course, at her identity. And you can understand, now, why we must make a long journey to be with each other."
I realized suddenly that we had been duped. That Laapet had used Deborah and me—and our faith in her honesty. It came as a greater shock than I imagined it would. The bubble had burst and these proud, untouchable people had become suspect and ugly with one lie. The disillusionment made me belligerent.
"She is Pundra Doh's wife," I said to Vechi.
"She is Pundra's concubine," Vechi said gently. "She will be my wife."
"And what of her poor children in Ul?"
"They are Pundra's children. Under the system she is a communal mother. They are with their true mother in Ul."
"She lied," I said obstinately. I had been deceived into sympathy. She had used a powerful and terrible weapon and I remembered the ancient proverb, "God deliver us from the lies of honest men."