“Good-by
, Lors,” she whispered.
“I’ll come back, Beth, I’ll come back. One of these days both our people will be friends and we’ll meet again.”
“I hope so.”
He glanced up at the sky and saw two of the scout ships flashing about, high above the clouds. “My escort,” he told her grinning.
“You’ll have trouble...”
He kissed her lightly on the mouth. “No. I’ll marry the Commander’s daughter and it’ll all be okay.”
“Is she beautiful?”
“Yes.” He caught the sudden flash of womanly hurt rise in her eyes and smiled. “Almost as beautiful as you.”
He kissed her lightly again and leaped to the cockpit of the scout ship. He motioned her away from the blast area and eased the ship up above the trees. She waved to him and looked very small among the trees. He lifted a hand to her, then swung the ship upward, slamming the throttle forward to head back to the starship.