Deborah moved within my arm. Her voice was deep with sympathy for them. "They are going to Venus, Steve, with this story. As a gentleman," he went on, "you can respect a trust."
"You have my word," I said. "But what's the good of telling me if you don't want the story told?"
"Some day," he smiled, "it will occur to you that the time has come to tell this story, when people will not be at all interested in its implications. Though they should be."
I did not understand him, then. But I agreed. "And what will you do with us?"
"Send you down in an 'egg.' The space-raft will hold the four of you. Once we are over Faleeng we'll release it."
"And just how will I explain the disappearance of the Starfish?"
"I don't think there will be any trouble," Vechi smiled. "You can tell them you caught Vechi and Raeburn in a diranium conspiracy, that Vechi pulled a double-cross and got away. It will explain the pilots Raeburn slugged back in Marsport, too. It will do for popular consumption; they expect something like this of me anyway."
"You still don't mind being called a rat?" I said.
Vechi drew Laapet closer to him. "No," he said.
"But why did you drag Raeburn in on this?"