I didn't know. Wherever I turned, there were treason and injustice. However hard I tried to do right, I had to wrong somebody.
I ran on, back to my cabin. I peeled off my clothes and dived into bed, and by the time they looked in on me I had worked back most of my fever.
Don't think, Conru. Don't think of this new victory and the safety of the Empire. And, perhaps, a step closer to the harshly won unity of Earth. Don't think of the way the light catches in Barbara's hair and gets turned into molten gold. You've got a fever to create, man. You've got to think yourself sick again. That ought to be easy.
VIII
Barbara came in. She was white and still, and presently she leaned her head against my breast and cried quietly, for a long time.
"There is a spy here," she told me.
"I heard about it." I stroked her hair and held her to me, clumsily. "Do you know who it was?"
"I don't know. Somehow, they seem to think the Luronians may be guilty, but they aren't sure. They arrested them, and two were killed resisting. Colonel Wergil is in the brig now, while they decide if Luron can still be trusted."
"It can't," I said. "Earth must win alone."