"To hell with that talk. I saw my parents burned alive."
"I'm sorry."
They passed the timberline and entered a forest.
"You've convinced me," Jan said. "They're dangerous. Damn these regulations that say a man can't wear his blasters on Terra. If they're looking for us, they'll catch us. We'd better hide out until night."
They found a sun-warmed, grassy spot hidden among three boulders. Jan held her in his arms until she quit shivering from fear and the still chilly mountain air. Then he went to sleep.
He was awakened by a kick in the ribs. He jumped to his feet, clawing desperately for the blasters he didn't have.
"You're covered, space-devil!"
He was ringed by some twenty white-robed men armed with weapons ranging from daggers to blasters. Their faces were bearded and their eyes were hot with fanaticism. Their leader was a seven-foot African with a gold ring in his nose.
"Give clothes to the obscene one," the African said.
One of the men threw a white robe around the girl. She wrapped it around her and sat cowering in fright.