"Where the hell ... are you in there?"
With a sigh the girl sat up. Hendley tried to rise to his knees, fumbling for his trunks. Bushes parted. The tall, broad-shouldered figure of the blond man loomed over them. "There you are!" he said. "Didn't you hear me?"
"I heard," the girl said petulantly.
The man gave Hendley a cursory nod. "Come on! I hear a hunt's getting up. Soon as it's dark."
"A hunting party?" There was a subtle change in the girl's manner and her voice. Hendley glanced into the large brown eyes. The glitter he saw there made him uneasy.
"Hurry up! We'll have to eat and get ready!" The man for the first time looked directly at Hendley, who made a halfhearted effort to cover himself with the white mesh trunks, knowing the gesture was futile. "You did all right in there for a beginner," the blond swimmer said heartily. "Hope you'll keep showing up. Always need good players!"
He gave the girl his hand to pull her to her feet. "Just let me get my uniform," she murmured, casually adjusting the halter of her swimming garment. She glanced back at Hendley and said, with what seemed like regret, "So white...."
Then the couple was striding off and the girl was saying, "We haven't had a good hunt in so long. Who's the target? Is he playing now?"
Their voices trailed off. Hendley gaped after them. They were Contracted—but there had been neither jealousy nor disgust in the man's attitude. He had practically caught Hendley and the girl violating one of the Organization's first rules of order—and he hadn't cared!
Hendley caught hold of a heavy branch of the nearest bush and dragged himself erect. The ways of Freemen were going to take some getting used to, he thought. Remembering the girl's eyes when she had heard about the hunting party, he shivered involuntarily. What kind of woman would react so strongly to a man's pain? And what did they mean by the hunt?