"Tabor has one of the Jewels, I'm sure. The Pink one."
"But that's the one that was stolen! That would mean—"
"Exactly. How do you suppose he obtained the mistaken idea that we were dead? I'll tell you how it was: He tipped off the Black Warrior who attacked us in space. Tabor didn't dare do it himself, but he left it for the other killer to do, then Tabor planned to take our four Jewels from our attacker. That's why he came here—to look for the man."
"He came to take me back."
"Nonsense. That's a tale he thought up on the spur of the moment when he found that we were victorious in the space battle."
Nathan frowned. The story was logical even if it wasn't reasonable. But Firebird had no proof. Unless she could prove Tabor had the Pink Jewel—
Carefully concealing his emotions from the crowd in the tavern, Nathan unlocked the belt container of the Jewels and handed them over to Firebird.
"Tabor's waiting," he said.
For Tabor, Firebird donned another cloak of personality, revealing still another facet of herself to bewilder Nathan. She taunted and baited Tabor as if trying to rouse his anger.
But the shaggy spaceman seemed to be in a mood that would not be ruffled by Firebird's taunts. Aboard the ship, they entered the tiny lounge cabin.